Kung Fu Panda: Golden Warriors: Shattered Hopes
by Ben10extreme
Summary: The Akatsuki destroyed the Leaf Village, and now contiue their hunt for Naruto. The heroes make their way to Spirit City, where help may be provided. But the place is spiritually in turmoil, and they must fix it to continue, while Po finds a new type of combat, as well as Naruto. These two are their worlds only hope. Will Sasuke be the one to crush it, due to his hesitation?
1. A Young Wolf's Idea Of Family

Jhong was panting on the ground, looking quite hurt. He refused to whimper like a hurt puppy though, he won't do it. But the pain was too much. Something slammed onto his back, making him crash to the ground, cracking it. He winced a huge deal, but did not whine. "Come on boy! Go ahead, whine like the little pup you are! You are not gonna make me look bad in front of my men! You need to get it through your head, you belong...TO ME!" Jhong looked up at the shadow, and just growled at him. The figure was not amused, and slammed his fist into Jhong's chest, making him gasp from the pain, because he was hurt enough already. June was clawing at the bars on her cell door, clawing at it like a trapped dog would.

"Please my lord! Leave my son out of this! I was the one who was disobedient. I'm the one who was messing around with your plans. I'm the one you truly want, just please...PLEASE let him go!" The figure was not listening, it only kicked Jhong in the side, making the wolf collapse. He was kicked again, and he rolled a bit, lying on the ground. Tigress was seething at the sight. "Curse you...you really are a coward, picking on a young wolf like this! Jhong has done absolutely nothing for this kind of suffering!" She was chained to a wall, with an unconscious Po near her, having a bruise on his head. Jao was also doing his best to hold the tiger back. "Listen here Tiger, Jhong has been a bad boy, and needs to be punished for it." "Really? Or is it the fact that you reward bad behavior, and punish good ones?" Jao just turned his back to her, crossing his arms. "You wouldn't understand, because you're not a wolf..."

(Present Time)

Jhong opened his eyes, he didn't realize he had fallen asleep. But now that he is awake, he's afraid to go back to sleep. He is still a target, and he still doesn't know specifically why he is. But his mother sure seems to know. He's seen it in her eyes, she knows something serious about him and Jao and herself, and she won't talk about it. But he's determined to find out soon. While also keeping up with Po's training, and steering clear of his relationship with Tigeress. He knows Po can be respectful, he sees Tigress more on her heart, instead of her clothes or exterior. He cares deeply about all his friends, his family, that's why he wants to learn from him. And part of that deal, no, PROMISE, is to always keep trying, no matter how tough it gets. Jhong was thinking back to his pack back home...

He thought about the elder wolf that was put in charge of the pack. He knew something set June and Jhong apart more than any would in the world. But he wanted them to figure it out on their own, it was part of the journey. That pack always helped him out, because he was son of the boss, they wanted credit just by playing with him. But they always stuck together, no matter what happens, before or after his father's death. Then he sees his best friend Crystal, his girlfriend Snow(They decided to wait on making it official, because what happened was based on instinct alone) the Diamond students, the Five, Naruto and Kakashi, and his mentor Po. They were sll loking at him with wide smiles, making him feel less alone in the world he imagined.

"I don't care what uncle says, THIS, is my pack now. And there is nothing the world can do or say to make that false." Jhong thought, smiling at the sleeping form of his girlfriend next to him. Camp was needed, they are nowhere near the destination so far, but it didn't matter to Jhong, it ment more bonding time, but he still kept looking for the Akatsuki, along with everyone else...

"JHONG!" The wolf got startled by the loud voice, and fell off his bed, hitting the floor. His roommate, Naruto, woke up tiredly, yawning. "Dude, what the heck? Is that your mom or something?" The wolf shook his head, scratched his ears, and grabbed his sword. "No, more bandits attacking town, is all." The blonde groaned. "And we all know Po is already out there fighting them, just gimme a second to wake up, I don't wanna miss out." The young wolf shook his head for two reasons: One, Naruto's tiredness affecting his attitude(either that or he's always like this), and, more importantly, with all the bandits running around town, they'll be behind schedule for getting to the City of Spirits. And he already knows that one certain Tiger master will not take that lying down. And he's going to be taking the brunt of her impatience if it isn't dealt with quickly. So he just nodded at the blonde, and sped outside the inn, Snow just close to waking. He has to do this quickly, because he's paying for rent next... 


	2. A Normal Morning, Right?

Po kicked away the last warthog of the group of bandits, into an evergrowing pile. All of them were groaning in pain from the serious beatings they just took. "Yeah, last one! This is way too easy!" Vincent shivered, tying up the last of them. "Y-yeah, easy." Po nudged the croc's shoulder, trying to cheer him up. "Lighten up Vincent, it only took three of us this time! Ain't that right Jhong?" The wolf smiled at the panda, knocking out one gator about to get up, with the hilt of his sword. "Yes it is. But we should probably get moving again Mentor. Tigeress is getting impatient with all of these interruptions. Naruto isn't that different, but he didn't shove me into boiling water. I needed six bags of ice just to heal the burns."

Po walked over to Jhong, and patted the wolf's head. "Dude, ever since your freaking out started, you kept calling me Mentor. You need to chill out, and call me Po, okay? Also, let me deal with Tigeress." Jhong was a little thrown off, but nodded. "Ok Men-I mean, Po." The panda slapped his back. "That's more like it! Now, speaking if said feline, I should go check up on her. But just in case, be ready to peel me off the wall." The panda ran back into the inn to see Tigeress. Jhong sighed, putting his hands on his hips, and surveyed the damage. "Let's see...torn chimney...cracked walls...shattered pottery...scratched up sword...aw man..." Now he's gonna have to get his sword fixed, it would be one of those days he wished he had his uncle's sword. Dark Magic or not, it never gets damaged, at all. He'll have Vincent fix it later.

He was about to walk back into the inn, but then heard barking. He turned around, and saw a wolf, a normal looking wolf, just looking at him. The wolf sniffed the air, and ran into the woods. Only, before it did, it disappeared in a flash of light, colorful light. Jhong blinked, and rubbed his eyes. He must be seeing things again. He then turned back, and saw Bandit sitting on his hind legs, looking at his brother curiously. "Did you see it bro?" Jhong was confused. "See what?" "That blue wolf guy, he was just playing with me. Didn't you see him?" Jhong didn't get that much. "We didn't see him with you before, how'd you play with him?" "He was here for hours, how'd you not see him?" Now Jhong was slightly nervous. He JUST saw a wolf that was here for hours, and just vanished right in front of him? Could it be... "No, it couldn't be. We're not there yet."

Back at the inn, Po was walking the hallways, looking for Tigress. It was one of those times she actually overslept in the morning. Or she thought it was oversleeping, to everyone who isn't from the Jade Palace, it was a normal wake-up call. He then reached her room, and knocked. "Hello? Tigress? Are you awake yet?" He might regret this, but he slowly opened the door, and walked in. She wasn't there, but her stuff was gone. "Wow. Must already be ready to head out. Maybe she was up early today, and packed up before anyone else. Better find-" "Pooooo..." He turned quickly, and saw a shadow pass by him. "Tigeress?" He slowly walked out of the room, and carefully treaded down the hallway, ready to attack. "Tigeress? Is that you I'm hearing?" He walked into the guest room, it was also pretty dark in there for a morning time.

"Ohhh...my sweet Po...you look nervous..." Po held in a yelp. "Ah man, it's her favorite game..." He looked around the room, not noticing a shadow pass him by again. He turned fast again, still seeing nothing. "Tigeress? Seriously, why do you like messing with me like this? You know the dark scares me sometimes..." He heard a slight chuckle echo around the room, making him nervous. "But Po...that's why I love this game...I like the fear on my prey's face...gets me...EXCITED..." He shuddered, and ran outside, into the light. He looked around once again, but still didn't see her anywhere. "Come on Tigeress, you're the one who kept saying we had to move quickly, so why can't we just go? Please?"

On the inn's roof, a shadow was watching the panda, swishing its tail with a predatory sense. "Yes...yes I did say that didn't I? But...why shouldn't I let loose for a bit? After all, YOU'RE the one who told me about it." Po just looked around in the sky. "I didn't mean on ME! I mean like eating actual food, hanging with your buddies, NOT using me as a punching bag? Actually, that one will hopelessly continue..." The shadow then ducked low on its paws, staying hidden. Then, it pounced at him. "Tigeress, is that yo-OOOF!" Po was pounced on by something strong, and they both rolled into a ball for a few times, then Po was on his back, panting. He then looked up, and saw the feline herself. Tigeress, in her new attire, was smirking with victory at her captured prey. The sun was glisltling off the gold Tiger on her black vest, completely buttoned up now. She also had her pants on, yin-yang symbols also glistling off from the sun. She was on her hind legs, sitting on him, while he just stared back at her. She's still beautiful, attire change or not. Tigeress, then fist pumped in the air, blue gloves on. "YEAH! Tigeress:10; Po: 0! New record!"

Jhong, June Shifu were watching from a little far off, not sure what to think. Shifu looked at Jhong. "Let's come back later." June pushed the red panda a little, but not knocking him over. "Come now Shifu, I think it's cute. They think nobody noticed them.? Shifu shook his head. "I'm not against this, I'm just waiting for them to come clean with me about it. Its about time Tigeress found a new hobby anyway. Hehe..." Shifu then walked off, snickering at the thought of Tigeresses new cuddle toy. Jhong and June shrugged, and followed him out. But Jhong heard a voice...(Wolves Jhong...wolves are all about loyalties...your loyalty will surely be strained during this journey...can you keep it strong?) Jhong looked around, but saw no one. June turnd to him. "Son, are you feeling well?" Jhong shook his head, and waved it off. "I'm fine mom, let's get packed again." He followed her out, but still wondered about who was spewking to him...

Po smiled at the feline' enthusiastic face at her victory rant. "You're unstoppable at this Tigeress." She leaned close, and licked his cheek, making him flush. "Yes. I am aren't I?" She then slitted her eyes for a second. "Remember, under no circumstance, are you going to go telling people I've gone soft, I can STILL kick your butt at any time Panda. And don't you forget it either".Po just continued to smile at her, then quickly grabbed her, and pulled her close. "Yeah, you're still my tough little kitty cat." Tigeress then growled at him. "Did you just call me kit-mmph..." The panda already sealed her lips with his own, calming her nerves. Her growls turned to purrs, and her tail relaxed near Po's legs. She put her paws on his chest, and he pulled her a little closer. They were at total comfort with this position. "Are you two done making out?" Well...that was over quick...

Tigeress froze, and opened one eye, looked to the side. Naruto, his jumpsuit on, and Kakashi, reading his book, just stood there, looking at the couple on the ground. Tigeress quickly shot up. "NOTHING!" Naruto snickered at her panic. "Didn't ask ya that, did I?" Tigeress then faced the blonde, picked up a rock, then effortlessly crushed it with her paws, wiping the smirk off the ninja's face. "See that Naruto? Since you're a young man again, I'm allowed to do this to your skull without consequence, unless you keep quiet, and vanish in the next 10 seconds..." Naruto sweated for a bit, then nervously smiled. "I never saw anything. See ya later!" He then vanished in smoke, leaving Kakashi there. "We're leaving in a few, guys, get yourselves ready." He vanished in smoke too, leaving the panda and tiger standing there. "Sorry Po. I'm just not up for public affection yet." Po hugged the feline to his chest, and she hugged back. "Don't worry Ti, I won't tell anyone if you aren't ready." She kissed his lips lightly, and turned around, walking off with her tail moving along the ground.

Po smiled again. Soon all of it will be worth it. He has to be there for Tigeress. He was about to get his dad so they can get ready, but then...(Dragon Warrior...) He looked around, sensing for the voice. "Who said that?" (You cannot meet us now, young one...but that time is coming...you must keep watch of the dangers you will eventually face on your journey...which includes chaotic forces with expontential power...you and your comrades must be prepared...) The voice then completely stopped talking, leaving the panda confused. "What...the...WHAT?"

In the forest, somethng huge was watching the panda with hopeful eyes. Actually TWO pairs of hopeful eyes. "Yes...he is definitely the one who shall meet The Council..." "Why can't we bring him there now?" "Becase he has to be at a specific kind of place to actually cross over there..." "Should we show uim where it is then?" "No you moron, he has to find it for himself. Otherwise there is no point in the journey..." A sigh was heard from the male voice. "Alright Sister...we'll do it your way...and there's no need to use name-calling..."  



	3. On The Move, With Some Distractions

Shadow was packing away his things too. A lot of people are traveling, so they had to leave at the same time to keep together. He kept his special eyes secretive by disguising them as regular yellow eyes. Those two ninja were a little too curious about his eyes. They should know it has nothing to do with them. He gently picked up his special white scarf, and just held it in his paws for a minute. It still had his mothers warmth mysteriously tied to it. She wanted it to be a gift for him, but not it was her way of saying goodbye to the twins. Karma loved her family so much to do this for him and Sasha.

Said cheetah was standing in his doorway, one paw on her side. She was in her robes, she just woke up a few minutes ago, and was told to get dressed quickly. But before that, she needed to talk to her brother. "Shadow...are you thinking about mom again?" She walked in, and sat next to him, not really getting much of a reaction. "Yes...I am. Is it wrong to remember things Sasha?" Her ears propped downward, and she sighed. "Of course not...I just thought that...that you would try not to think to much about it. You were pretty messed up, more than I was, and I was pretty sad." She eased toward him, and hugged his side, but he didn't move much. "Just try not to beat yourself over it man, yo've acted like it for years now. You have to realize that I loved mom too. I can prove it, I still have MY scarf." She took hers out of her robe, and there was her yellow scarf, with brown dots all over it. Shadow looked at his scarf, her scarf, and sighed. "You're right, I should just...focus on the journey ahead." "That's what I'm saying Shadow!" He got up, and packed the rest of his things. "But first things first, you've got to put your clothes on, you're still in a rather too short robe." Sasha blushed after that. "R-right, almost forgot." She stepped out, and walked to her room to change.

But she accidently bumped into Vincent, making them both fall on the ground. Vincent shook his head, and looked up. But then he put his head back down quickly, blushing heavily, and covering his eyes. Sasha got up, and carefully helped her friend up, blushing as well. "Sooooooo sorry Vincent, I was in a rush! Are you ok?" The croc got up, still covering his eyes with his remaining hand. "Yep, j-just f-fine Sasha. Y-you shoulde p-probably g-get d-d-dressed, e-everyone else is r-ready right now..." Sasha stood up, holding her robe with her paws. "Right right, sorry again!" She ran into her room, closing it quickly. Vincent slowly uncovered his eyes, to truly see if she was in her room, and sighed. He then went to the inn living room, grabbed a towel, and cleaned his snout from the blood on it. Since he's not completely used to it, the sight he saw was a little bit out of comfort. Monkey passed him by, and patted his back. "Had a little too much view dude?" Vincent blushed heavily again, but chose not to respond.

(A few minutes later)

Everyone was out and traveling again, focused on their selected path. Snow kept her guard around Sarah and the twins. Crystal stayed close to Naruto, for "security" reasons. Viper was coiled around his shoulders, and did friendly chat. Po made sure to only talk training in front of the others when it comes to Tigeress. She hasn't said a word to anyone else yet. Jhong, June, Kakashi, and Bandit stayed on the sides, keeping watch for ambushes from the forest around them. Everyone else followed the same example. Shifu kept his eyes on the map, focusing on their line of travel, which is difficult when a fox is prodding his side every five minutes. "Shifu...this is BORING." Shifu gave a slight nudge on her shoulder, grunting. "We never said it would be fun, now did we?" Mei Ling wouldn't quit though. "Come on Shifu! We should at least TRY to have fun with this." "What's fun about stopping other worldly threats?" She gave a few seconds to think about it. "The fun about stopping other-worldly threats?" Shifu face-palmed. "That's EXACTLY what Po and Naruto said..."

Po looked back, faking looking insulted. "HEY! There is nothing wrong with being enthustiastic Shifu. It puts you n the adventuring mood, you know? Being pumped for an adventure isn't wrong to do, you're just excited to get going." Naruto looked ahead, and held up a hand. "You're totally having the same mindset as I do! Except if the adventure sucks, we just pout..." Po paused, and pouted with him. "Yeah, we do both do that, don't we? We pout like this, then we just wanna-" "Po, Naruto, relax. We're not going to be totally bored here. We have plenty of time to spend on building our friendships, and it:'ll go into our adventures as a team!" Viper said, trying to keep their smiles on. It kinda worked, they weren't pouting, now it's just back to boredom.

Crane sighed to himself about how the two of them act. It was actually kind of predictable by now. There exactly the same when it comes to terms of attitude. But then he heard a crack in the bamboo, and turned his head left. "What was that?" Mantis propped himself on Cranes hat, and scanned the area. "I don't see anything dude." Shifu backed up Cranes previous accusation. "No, someone is here and they are spies. Just stay quiet." Everyone kept on their toes, or pincers, or talons, you get the point. Po sensed the area around him, dark chi was definitely in the areas, but he can't get a definite answer on what it is. (Try going a little deeper, genius.) Po quickly looked back, confused. "Ok...who said that?" (Kurama sighed in his cage. "This panda is SO dense, he makes Naruto look like a...like a...uh...actually...there isn't much of a difference...") The fox princess Aoi squinted her eyes, she saw a flash of green, and walked towards it. "What's that?" Huan followed his sister, hurriedly. "Aoi! We can't stray away from the group! AOI!" Sarah and Snow saw them, and sighed. "Children, come now. Please don't go wondering off too far." A worried mother said, trying to keep her balance and leaning slightly on Snow.

The twins made their way to the bushes to see the source of the rustling, quiet-like. They then see that the source of the noise was just a croc. Scratch that, a REALLY BIG croc, who's look on his face, doesn't have a lot of smarts attached. "Wonder who that is?" Aoi whispered. Huan shivered a little from nervousness. "I don't think we should touch it, it could be dangerous. Or bad smelling. Or...uh...dangerous." Aoi ignored him, and strecthed her paw toward the figure. When her paw touched its snout, eyes opened widely from the bush, and something rose from it. The croc looked menacingly at the twins, and snarled at the both of them. Huan's knees quivered, while Aoi smiled at the croc calmly. "Hi croc guy! What's your name?"

Po was just whistling to himself, trying to block out his boredom. But then Tigeress nudged his shoulder, and he looked at her, giving her his attention. "Po, where are the kids? The fox twins?" Po shrugged it off at first. "What are you talking about? The twins are right th-" He paused in shock, and shouted, "WHERE ARE THE TWINS!?" Crystal's eyes propped up at that note. "Wait what?" Shifu turned to the front of the group, and got things calmed down. "Now now, I'm sure the twins simply wandered off out of curiosity. Let us just take this chance to search the area to find them." Everyone nodded and split up for the children. "Mr. Ping, Luminous, Kakashi, and Lotus, you're with me. Everyone else, pair up as you wish." Everyone got organized and split up in their groups.

Po, Jhong, Bandit, Naruto, and Tigeress are looking throughout a couple of tall grasses, seeing if the children hidden themselves in it. "Not here." Tigeress said. Jhong peaked under a few leftover branches, not seeing them. "Not over here either." Naruto jumped onto a tall tree, searching from a viewable height. "I don't see them up here." Po jumped into another pile of tall grass, paws spread out. "GOTCHA!" Still, no foxes. "I got nothing on my end." Bandit was looking into a log, seeing if they were in it. "AOI? HUAN? YOU IN HERE?" His voice echoed in the log, not seeing them or hearing them. "Darn. I hope they're alright...oh Aoi...why didn't you let me come with?" He then tried to itch his way out, but couldn't move. "Huh? No no no. Come on Bandit, don't humiliate yourself with this situation. You...can...do...this...UGH! ...crud." Tigeress and Po came up to the pup, seeing his legs and tail. "You're stuck, aren't you?" Tigeress said. "What? No, no of course not! I'm just simply...uh...searching the...log for...hm...yeah, I give up. I'm stuck." Po flinched. "That...was weird deja vu. Yet, I can't remember why..." "You got stuck on-" "Tigeress! I'm being sacastic! I don't wanna relive that in front of Jhong. He'll...laugh a me."

"Guys...still stuck in here..." Tigeress sighed. She grabbed the pups legs, and gently pulled him out, setting him on his reet, and dusting him off. "Next time you wanna see through a seriously small space, call Mantis." Naruto jumped from the tree, landing on his feet. "I can't see them from up there. We better widen our search areas if we wanna make progress." After that, Viper slithered from a shrub, looking worried. "Guys...I found them..." The others followed the concerned snake, passing a few trees, finally looking past a bush, and gasped silently. That huge croc was gently poking a young female fox in his arms, Aoi, making her laugh every few seconds."HAHAHAHA! S-stop it! Stop it please! It's t-too much! Hahaha!" The other fox, Huan, was looking on in confusion, fear no longer apparent. "Okay...what?" The confusion must have spread, because that's the look the warriors we're having on their faces. Tigeress and Naruto said, "What is THAT guy doing here?"

Po, Bandit, and Jhong looked confused as the other two. Po then calmly said, "That guy kicked my butt a few times over, almost killing me on half of them. So why is Lidong tickling a little fox girl with a happy look on his face?"  



	4. Destination Reached! One Enemy Survives

(I know I went kinda low on this story, I just wanted to work on Regular Show. But now I'm far enough ahead in it, I can continue this story for a bit.)

Po was still trying to wrap his head around this. A big ferocious gator was cuddling a fox cub, friendly like, and not robbing like. He was very gentle with her, and she was laughing at it. "Ok...panda still confused...need information..." Po blankly says. "Tried that. I didn't get anything." Naruto added. "Maybe we should just talk to him? I mean, he's not really doing anything harmful to her, I'm not seeing a super big problem there." "I know bud, but we can't take our chances. We're gonna have to pry that helpless cub out of the jaws of vicious evil!" "Dude, what are you talking-" "Just get Aoi away from Lidong." "Oh! You see? That I understand!"

Said croc was carefully tickling Aoi with his paws, careful of his claws. "Hahahaha! Lidong come on! Cut it out!" Aoi laughed. The croc finally stopped, and merely held her. "You're too cute. I needed break." Aoi tilts her head. "Break from what?" "Stealing and ransacking and stuff." Aoi didn't respond to that much, just tilted her head back. "Stealing? Ransacking? Aren't those the wrong things to do?" Lidong just looked to the side. "Only thing I ever do. It make me tough." "Taking things from innocents sounds like what a bad person would do. Bad people are not usually the toughest." "Lidong turned his head back. "Cousin Fung, he talks like it is what tough guys do." "Why would he tell you that?" "He older. I sometimes have to listen." Aoi nodded in understanding. "That kinda makes sense. Bigger people make you do things." "No no. He's puny. I'm the bigger cousin." "Wait. He's SMALLER than you? Then how do you do what he says? Despite the fact that he's still older..."

Jhong and Tigeress were listening in, confused. "How is he not threatening her?" Tigeress asked. "Maybe he's not as bad as you guys said he was?" "Not likely Jhong. I kicked him off the palace steps once before because he threatened a prince named Zeng. I was having a VERY irritated day for not being patient." Jhong shivered at the dropping off the palace part. "I remember stories about the Jade Palace...and you kicked him off the steps...that's a long drop." Tigeress looked at the wolf calmly. "Just stay as polite as you are Jhong, then you won't have a similar experience." Jhong shivered some more, and just kept his attention on the croc ahead of him.

"Okay...just going to say this once...for like the three thousandth time, I don't like climing trees...or climbing anything..." Po heaved, trying to climb the tree branch looming over the croc and cub. "Alright, time to snatch the cub back!" He carefully reached for Aoi, silent as possible. He was getting closer, but the girl saw him before he could even touch her. "Hi !" Lidong's eyes turned slitted, and he looked upwards. "Chubby panda?!" Po yelped. "Crud!" He was suddenly grabbed by his arms, and was tossed into another tree. "Ow! Why am I always being TOSSED into something?! Does everyone find that funny?" "Well..." Naruto, be quiet." He then attempted to get up, but Lidong's tail slammed into his stomach, making him gasp. "Double...ouch..."

Tigeress jumped out, and ran to Po quickly. "I'm on my way Po!" Jhong followed after, but stopped to halt Bandit. "Nope. Little bro, you're staying right there." The cub sighed. "What? I can't watch?" "No, you CAN watch, just not from over there, you can see perfectly clear right where you are. So that's what you do." Jhong ran after Tigeress, leaving the wolf cub to huff to himself and Naruto. "I used to be in the same position dude. It only gets better if you just wait for it." Back with Tigeress, she managed to reach Lidong, and kicked at his snout, but he caught her foot before it made contact. He slammed her beside the tree, then threw her into the ground. "Uhh...not this time!" She flipped herself back up, and faced the croc, who growled at her. "Why you all ambushing me?" "What are you even doing here?!"

Before they could fight, Aoi ran right between them, holding her paws out. "Hold on guys! Don't fight! We do not have a lot of time left to get to the city. Can't we just skip the fight stuff?" Tigeress looked at her in confusion. "What?" Po eased himself back up, hearing the conversation. "She's right, we don't have a lot of time to spare fighting a giant croc. We should just call it a draw or something." "Po...I don't do DRAWS against the enemy..." "We don't have time for it Tigeress! We have to hurry up before weeeee...where's Lidong?" The two looked around, the croc was already gone somewhere. "Ugh..." They look at the ground, seeing Naruto rubbing his head, Jhong helping him up. "Why is it, that I am older and stronger...and his punch STILL threw my head for a loop?" A few minutes after, they reached the others, looking for them. Kakashi saw the bruise on Naruto's head. "Why is there..." "I got the sound beaten out of my head, that's what happened." Shifu walked toward them, tiredly. "Did you find the twins?" "Ha...yeah, we got them...let's just get back on the road. Please..." Sasha teleported to the front of the group. "Guys I can't find the...oh...you found them. Cool." Mei Ling followed behind her, smiling. "Too much time was taken up, because Shifu-" "Oh gee, look at the time! We better get going!" Shifu said quickly, the first one off. Crane tipped his hat in embarrassment. "Don't ask, just walk."

They continued on the road, where it was pretty much smooth sailing for a few hours. Then...one event made this trip that more important...

They only stopped at another inn, just before they reach the city. Naruto dropped to the ground in exhaustion, along with Mantis and Monkey."Ugh...how long until we're there? Its been three days already!" Shadow scanned the map they bought. "We should arrive there just tomorrow evening, if we can hurry." Po dropped soon after. "Ah thank goodness! I can take a break!" Kakashi shook his head in humor. "We all want one Po." "I couldn't agree more! This old man can't keep up with all of you young ones all day." said. Naruto laughed a bit. "You guys can't be that tired right?" Mei Ling stood by him. "I agree. More energy is required to keep up with us!" "Excuse me? We kept up with you just fine, thank you!" Sarah said, huffing. "You don't count, you're still pregnent." "Well yeah but-" "If I may, let us just take a breather for a while. As you can see, Vincent is almost done for today." Shifu points to Vincent, who looked like he was about to faint. He was heaving, and needed a quick drink of water.

So after all of that, everyone was settled into the decent sized inn for the night, Naruto volunteering to keep watch outside. Inside, Crystal was cleaning up her fur, brushing her tail. "Stupid crocs...stupid mud...I don't care how big he is, I'll smash him nxt time he pulls that trick on me..." When she finished her grooming, she rested near her mother, and felt her stomach. "He! The little one is really kicking isn't it?" "I know! The little one won't let me sleep, so I decided to just have a cup of tea to help me relax. Still awake, but I'm relaxed. Anyway, what's the matter Crystal? That's your "somethings bugging me" look." Crystal sighed. "Its just...its just that we'll be in the Spirit City tomorrow, and we'll be there for some time. Dad will miss the birth, won't he?" Sarah hugged her daughter, and kissed her forehead. "Oh, is that what this is about? Your father knows that indeed, and it saddened him. But, he wants you to be there, because he can trust that you'll be there for when it happens, and handle it on your own." Crystal smiles, and looks out their window. "I wonder what Naruto is doing..."

Said ninja was sitting on the roof of the inn, looking at the moon. He was recalling the events a few days ago: ("What bad news about me? What's happening bro?" Po looked completely sad at him, worrying everyone else. "Bro, trust me, you can't hear this. It's not my choice...") "What could have happened that would have him lose trust in me hearing what he has to say? How come I couldn't listen in? Is it really because Po doesn't trust me? Or-" He froze, and jumped backwords quickly, avoided a lighting typed senbon nearly striking his heart. He lands onto another roof of a small building, and looks where he jumped from. Some figure was standing there, emotionless. Naruto was angry. "What the heck man?! That could have really messed me up!" The figure was still unfeeling, and just looked at Naruto, his eyes staring him down. "Naruto..." "Huh? How do you know my name?" The figure jumped down from his perch, and right in front of him, his red eyes glowing.

"You're coming with me..." Naruto stood back, but grabbed a kunai out of his pouch. "Hold on man...I don't even know who...wait a minute..." He uses Kurama's chakra to see throught the dark, and saw a raven haired guy with a sword in his hand. Naruto then widened his eyes. "Sasuke? Why are you-WOAH!" He jumped backwords, avoiding a sword slash at his feet, then threw a couple shruiken at that spot, where Sasuke disappeared. He reappeared behind the blonde, and kicked him in his back, making him fly over another buioding structure, but he managed to regain control and land on his feet. "Dude! You have a problem with me or something?!" Sasuke didn't listen, and slashed his sword at him again, onky for Naruto to dodge it again, and backflip, while kicking Sasuke's chin.

He landed on his feet again, and summoned lighting in his hands, and shot it at his opponent, causing him dodge again, but this time throwing a kunia at his face, which he dodged as well. Sasuke brought out his Sharingan, and speeded up to Nruto, who countered using Kurama's chakra. Their punches made contact with each other, making them fly back into two different walls. Sasuke landed on his feet, and focused his Sharingan on Naruto, who was struggling to stand. "Amaterasu..." Black flames appeared from his eyes, and they creeped near Naruto's form, threatening to burn him. But then, a golden light appeared, and it shined on the black flames, making them disappear. Sasuke looked on in disbelief. "How? Nothing can put out that kind of fire..." He looks up, seeing Po put his hands down, and walk towards Naruto. "Dude, not cool man!" He picked him up, and turned back, but Sasuke is now gone. Not minding it, he headed back for the inn during the night.

Po drops Naruto in his bed, and went to his own bed himself. Tigeress was lying on a map across from him, already asleep. He would be worried about Shifu seeing them just in the same room alone, but it was nighttime, who can tell? He just closed his eyes and let dreams take over. "People attacking Naruto at night now? We gotta get to Spirit City fast...but...who was that guy? I must have seen him before." (Kurama: "You have no idea...") Po sat up, and looked around the room. "Where is that voice coming from?"

(Somewhere else)

"You just saw the Heroes Chi Sasuke, his light dragon energy is the only thing strong enough to put out your black flames." Jao informed later that night. Sasuke was pacing, in frustration. "So what do I do about it?" "You can't destroy it, its permanent, and more powerful You're gonna have to find another way to counter Po and Naruto." Jao explained. Sasuke did not respond right away, there's no reason to. Things were not making a lot of sense, but it looks like he's gonna have to wait on getting answers...

(The Next Day)

"...and he was all quick like! He was over here, and over here, then all the way over there! Yet I could see every move he made, kinda..." Naruto was waking up to a conversation between Po and Viper. "I don't care much about it Po! I just want to know if he's okay or not. Tell me that and I'm all good." He sat up, and looked at them curiously. "What are we talkin' about?" Viper glanced at him, then back at Po. "See? Now he can tell us for himself. Sweetie, are you alright?" Naruto then stood up, and straightened his arms up. "Not much, but I'm definitely not broken. I just got knocked out is all." Viper eyed him carefully, and tilted her head."Hmm...are you sure?" "Positive." She nodded her head, then slithered around him to kiss his cheek. "Good. Now let's get packed, we'll be in the city by this evening."

In another room, Shifu was in a separate room sitting down, meditating. He was aware that they were in a hurry, but he couldn't help taking in the mountain view that they were headed to. It was right behind Spirit City. Although Shifu kinda prefers to call it "The Valley Of Spirits" and then he realizes that there was a lot more meaning to it somehow. His ears flicked, and he opened hie eyes. "Kakashi?" He was right, said sensei was standing right there next to him. "We'll be off in a few Shifu." "Yes yes, I'm aware of that." He got up, and walked out of his inn room, Kakashi follwoing behind him.

Right outside, Snow and Scarlet were sitting outside, talking about recent events. "Why would someone want to attack Naruto late at night? I don't see why anyone would have a grudge with him for it to come to that." "I don't either Snow, but we have to come to terms that Naruto is not the only target, not too long ago Jhong's uncle was after him, and he probably still is." Snow whined like a wolf would, while the robin perched on her shoulder. "I know, but why does it have to ne that difficult? Why does he even want Jhong anyway?" "He's as clueless as the both of us. So far, Jao is the only one who could possibly want to hurt Jhong now. Unless there is someone else..." Just at that time, June came out, looking at them. 'Time to head out girls, get your things."

When everyone was ready, they were off on the road again, only this time, more vigilant. They can't be taking any more ambushes from random enemies or past headaches, time was being wasted because of it. Mei Ling saw that Shifu was uneasy, and eased her arms around him whike walking. "Hey, what's going on with you?" Shifu just eyed her for a bit, then straight ahead. "Nothing love, just a little lightheaded is all. I'm fine." She looked him over, and decided to believe him for now. Genesis slithered behind them, and sighed. "Things aren't looking quite relaxing on anybody's part. We better get there quickly, no more collisions with trouble."

Tigeress agreed but was still skeptic. So Naruto was attacked, Lidong just came and gone, and now Po's hearong things that aren't there? Either this group is bad luck or the really are getting closer. "Or maybe getting closer to the destination is what's causing this bad luck..." she grumbled. She turned, and saw Jhong, looking very uncomfortable for unknown reasons. "You alright?" He didn't appear to hear her, so she pushed him a little. "Jhong?" Still no response. So she just stood back, and punched his arm hard. He suddenly jolted. "Ow! What Tigeress? What is it?" He asked, rubbing his arm. "You were spacing out, staring at nothing. Are you alright?" " Yes, I'm fine." She folded her arms. "You're lying." "What? How can you tell?" "You give that nervous look whenever I ask Po something he doesn't want to answer. Which is quite often." Jhong saw that she was on to him, so he just blew it off. "Look Master Tigeress, I'm sure I'm fine, just let me deal with it on my own."

Po and Naruto quicky came between them. "Just leave him alone Tigeress. If he doesn't want to talk, then he doesn't have to. He's a growing boy, he likes to be private about things." "But Po-" Po put a paw on Jhong's shoulder, smiling. "If he wants to talk, then he will. It obviously isn't now, so its gonna be later, fair enough?" Tigeress looked for an argument, but sighed. "Ok. Apologies Jhong, I was invading personal space." Jhong looked up, and smiled. "Its alright, you were only interested in helping me." Bandit, Huan, and Aoi were looking at a blue floating rabbit pass by them, waving at it happily. "How come we can see you, but the older guys can't?" Aoi asked the rabbit. It didn't look like it could talk, because it just looked at them curiously. It then flew into the woods, disappearing in light. Shadow walked by, and looked at them. "Hi Shadow, we weren't talking to anyone."

The panther was looking at them blankly. "You were just talking to that glowing blue rabbit, what are you talking about?" Bandit gasped. "You saw it too?" "Yes. Is that peculiar to you?" The children looked at each other, then back at said panther. "Yes, it is a little weird that we're the only ones who saw them." Shadow was about to ask more, but teleported beside him. "Let's go guys, Naruto says he sees it!" Shadow nods silently, and rushed with the others to Naruto's location.

They were standing at the top of a cliff, looking far ahead from their current spot. Monkey was the first to speak. "Have any of you guys ever seen something so big? Because this place completely overshadows Gongmen City." Yes, they made it there, but that's not what surprised them. It was HUGE. And Po is feeling that the mountain right behind it has the same aura feeling as the Pool of Sacred Tears. "Well, we're here, so what do we look for?" June walked up to the front of the group. "We should be able to find the answers we need around here. And I know the first place to look for some." June then turns to her son. "Do you remember my mother, Jhong? Bandit has never met her yet." Jhong thought for a bit. "Grandma Juan?" "Yes, you have not seen her in such a long time...and now she can help us here." Fugasaku looked at the mother wolf. "How?" "Just trust me."

(Unknown Location)

He was coughing quite a lot when he woke up. He eased himself up, but a gentle wing pushed him down. "No no no! You have to lie down! You haven't recovered much since you woke up. Let me help." He didn't listen, he only tried to move more. "Hands off me! I can take a little stinging!" He finaly sat up, but had a huge pain in his chest , and it made him lie back down. "UGH! Blast it! What is this pain?!" The voice came into the light, huffing. "I told you to just listen to me, bet you wish you did now, don't ya?"

The figure looked at the source of the voice in anger. "I don't need help from-" He stopped right there. He speaking to a female, and she was a peahen Her kimono was red all over, yet her train had a rainbow kind of feel to it. And it was drawing his attention... "Hello?" The guy snapped back, and shook his head. "Ha? What? What was I saying?" "Don't know, something about help, which I highrly consider you let me do. You've been out for quite a long time." "Really? How long?" She was trying to think of a way to time her words carefully so that he doesn't freak out. "Well...how do I put this? And...please don't freak out. You've just woken up from a coma. A very long coma. Which lasted about...um...a year and a half?"

Th figure stood there, not really reacting. Then: "WWWWWHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!"

The hen briefly tried to block out the noise. "I told you not to freak out! I keep telling you, listen to me! Now, just take a breath, and calm down." They both took a breath, and relaxed. "How does a coma last that long?" "That's what I was trying to figure out for myself, cause I was sure as heck that you were dead! But now we can both try to figure it out. Now, at least tell me your name. We should at least try to be polite. Mine is Ming. What's yours?" The figure stood up, his train straightning out and bandages not holding him back.

"If you truly must know, I am the one and only...Lord Shen." 


	5. How Am I Still Alive?

Ming stood by, not very shocked. "Huh. Lord Shen, THAT Lord Shen? I honestly thought it wasn't you." Shen gave her a look that said, (wha?) I"You don't knw much about me, don't you? Otherwise, you'd be terrified of me right now." Ming shook her head softly. "No, I heard the stories. Crazy fireworks, panda genocide, banishment...that information travels everywhere. Especially the panda defeating you-" She ducked quickly, and looked behind her. There was a knife embedded in the wood, and she looked back at Shen. "Don't dare mention him in front of me..."

Ming had a wing on her hip. "What I want to know is how you wake from a year-long coma, and still be able to throw a knife. Wait...that's MY knife!" "Well maybe next time you shouldn't mention my absolute worst enemy. That subject has always been my worst, amd it will stay that way." "Hey, I kinda saved your life, so you should give me that. I wouldn't have been able to sow together that hole in your chest." Shen widened his eyes. "What hole?" He took his bandaged wing, and opened his torn robe, then gasped. A long line of stitches were going diagonally down his chest, still red, but not bleeding. "How...what did that?" Ming went through her cabinet, and took something out. It was a big spear of wood, still having leftover blood on it. "During your last minute attack, I found THIS lodged into your chest. I don't even know how you were still breathing after that."

Shen was in disbelief. Coma or no coma, that should have killed him. "What happened to me?" Ming took a second to collect herself, and sat down next to him. "Truthfully, it wasn't just me that saved you. Someone else was involved..."

(One year ago)

The last rope broke, and the cannon broke loose, and began to sway forward. Shen and Po were still fighting, until the latter saw what was going on, and ran for it. Shen looked behind him, and didn't bother to dodge, he just closed his eyes, and his world went dark, as metal and fire crashed down on his body. Something like that should have killed him, but he was somehow lucky...

Shen, having a huge hunk of wood in his chest, and severe ash burns on almost every part of his body, was just drifting across shallow waters, looking lifeless. His back was in the water, while his front faced the sky. He was also completely unconscious. His body eventually reached shores, and he simply laid there on the sand for who knows how long. Then one day, someone found him there, and picked him up and took the body with him. The figure reached its house, and laid him on a bed.

"You truly are a lucky peacock, you know that? I know you cannot hear me, but that is exactly the point, and I cannot be penalized when and if you awaken. I'm sorry its come to this master, but there comes a time where one must go out on his own. I also thank you for doing away with my brother, it makes my progress that much easier." The figure takes out a bottle of dark mist, and opened it, then sprayed it on Shen's body. When he finished, Shen's body glowed purple for a few moments, then disappeared. The shadow then begins to walk away. "That should keep you alive for a long period, its the chi of a dark dragon. You'll be grateful, I assure comes from your former general, Jao. I bid you..farewell..." The wolf showed his face for only a moment in his hood, then he ran off into the shadows. After a few moments, someone came through a door, closing it back. "Ah man! A wolf ran out of my house?! He better not have taken anything!" The someone was Ming, and she was merely getting groceries for the evening. But then she saw the body on her bed, and her bags dropped to the floor. "He dropped off a dead body on my bed?! Come on!" She went to remove him, but she stopped, and felt for his heart, it was very weak, but still beating.

"Oh my! He's still alive?! And...a wooden spear in his chest? How ARE you breathing? That doesn't matter, I have to help him!" She brought him into another room, and she proceeded to carefully remove the hunk of wood out of the peacocks chest. But this took a while, because she couldn't remove the entire thing all at once, so she carefully cut away at the wood, making it progressively get smaller by chips. When it was small enough, then she decided to remove the wood from him, and putting it in her cabinet. She got a towel out, rinsed it, and proceeded to clean his wounds carefully. She was looking at his face, but then continued to clean the blood off. When that finshed, she dressed it, then sewed the hole closed, and wiped any blood that was left on his chest. When she finished that, she took a look at his burns, and her eyes saddend. "The burns will heal...but the marks are permanent...and...his eye..."

Not focusing on that, she looked at his talons, they were deformed, and the metal dug in them. "Jeez, what jacked up your talons?" She shook it off, and took out other tools. She cut the metal away carefully, and put them on a table, and wiped blood off again. She then bandaged his talons, and focused on other parts of his body. Most of his feathers were gone, but not enough to reveal many bald spots. "Okay..what else?" She looked at his beak, that was messed up too. "Ok...I gotta fix that if he wants to speak again." She took her sowing needle back out, and for many hours, carefully attaches his beak to where it should be. Fortunately it wasn't that far from his face, so it wasn't that hard. But...his beak was also cracked, that wasn't going anywhere. "What the heck messed you up? More importantly, how'd you live through it?" Ming said. She finishes up the last of her work, and examines him for a minute. "That's all I can do for now. Since you are still breathing but still not waking, I say that you're in some kind of trance. Wonder if you ever wake?" She merely sat down next to the bed, and held his wing, which was still a little bloody. "Doesn't matter, I found you, so you're my responsibility. Might as well get used to me if you do ever open your eyes again..."

(Present Time)

"I watched over your body for a year, wondering if you were ever going to wake up. I couldn't leave you alone here all the time, I sometimes had to hide you from my neighbors. There was no way I could clearly tell you were alive, your breathing was so quiet...it was hard to remember that you were not dead. I also couldn't tell if you were able to last THAT long without eating a thing. Being asleep all the time must have prevented that, I guess. Either that or you are normally able to survive that long without food or water." Shen listened to her entire story, and was confused. "Why would you keep me in your home for a year? You know of the horrible things I did, and you still aimed to keep me alive?" "I couldn't exactly leave you to die, it was instinct, I had to. Besides, you have to have your reasons, right?"

Shen didn't know what to say. This woman really did save his life, and wasn't asking for anything in return. "Well...I guess I-" (GROWL) He stopped, and held his stomach. "Good lord! How DID I last that long without eating anything?!" Ming laughed, but then stopped herself. "Yeah. But...about your injuries..." On cue, his stomach stopped growling, as if it knew he wanted to hear this. "Your beak is cracked, maybe I can cover that up. Most of your lost feathers will likely grow back on its own, like it covers your scar. Your talons are going to need more work. And...your eye..." Shen listened further. "What's wrong with my eye?" Ming went for a mirror, and gave it to him. "See for yourself."

Shen was quick to grab it, but at the same time nervous. "Proposterous, it can't be that bad. Can it?" He thought. He brought the mirror up to his face, and he froze. His face was burned on the right side, probably the worst on his body. And his eye on that side...was almost completely forced shut. It was only able to see through his burnt eyelids a little bit, because it had a year to heal itself. He was in shock, it looked exactly like... "My face resembles a black and white symbol...and...you say this can never heal?" Ming nodded slowly. Shen looked back at his reflection, and got angry. "Peacocks...are supposed to be beautiful...because of there colorful trains...and their feelings of superiority...but now..." He tighten his grip. "First that stupid fortune..." He walked towards a larger mirror. "Then my parents banish me..." He looked himself in the bigger mirror. "Then after 30 years of planning...I'm defeated by a panda that was supposed to be dead..." He glared at his scarred body, and hissed. "And then THIS happens to me!" He threw the smaller mirror with all the strength he currently had, and shattered the bigger mirror into shards. "Tis is an outrage! Why is the universe against me?!"

Ming flinched at the outburst. "Shen! Calm down!" He looked backwards. "NO! All of my life, nothing has ever gone my way! The only time I've ever tried to stand up for myself, NOW they say I should stay an utter weakling! No...no no. I put fear in them...they feared me, and that's why they wanted to destroy me...but they failed..." Shen walked up to Ming,and grabbed her shoulders. "You saved me, I want you to help me fulfill my revenge. No one has ever tried to genuinely help me. Except for...no, she's long gone. Please, journey with me, help me succeed, and you shall have all that you desire, I owe you that much." Ming looked him over, his voice was calm, but she sensed that he had no sanity in his mind. But she also sensed that this wasn't a choice. "I'm not completely sure about it...but...I accept. Because you look familiar to someone I knew well, but never saw again. I want to see if you have my answers to that."

Shen nodded. "Of course. Anything you want, I shall assist you, and you do the same for me." He looked at his feet. "I shall need to replace my metal talons, they must be completely useless by now. And I'll need weapons as well. But most importantly...I need allies. Reliable allies that will not betray me..." Ming stood up. "I know someone who can join us, but it will take some time." Shen looked at her. "No trouble, because I shall be a time bit more patient about things this time. And, after supper, and a little bit more medical attention, we shall be heading out." He then looked down at the shattered glass on the floor, and glared. In three of the reflections...were Jhong, Po, and Naruto. "I'll make them pay...they shall pay..." He looked closely at Jhong's image. "Especially you. Your father turned against me..." He then forcefully stepped on that glass piece, shattering it completely. "And its going to cost him his family..." He looked back at his shattered reflection, not realizing that his one usable eye, along with his body, was glowing a dark purple. "They're all going to pay...I swear they will..."

(Somewhere Else)

Po was just walking down the hill leading to the city, with his friends right beside him. But then, he stopped suddenly, and everyone saw it. Tigeress was worrird. "Po? You just stopped. Are you feeling well?" He shook his head, and turned to everyone. "Its alright guys, I'm fine. Let's just keep going." He continued, and after a minute, so did everyone else. Shifu and Kakashi saw through the lie, but decided to drop it, for another time. But Po was still not comfortable. He could have sworn that he felt a surge of hatred from somewhere, but can't exactly tell. Plus, it seems that Jhong and Naruto felt it too, because Jhong was keeping close to Bandit, and Naruto was giving a look that was saying that he knew something evil just got loose... 


	6. Shen's Allies

Shen and Ming were going along the road, looking for a place for Shen to replace his metal talons, some weapons, medical supplies, and most importantly, some allies. Judging by time, none of it was going to be easy to get. Really, you think for a year that some crazed tyrant is dead, only for him to come back from it the very next year? No, Shen wanted to hide his face, for it was scarred, and it has a high chance of someone discovering him. He didn't want that when he just woke up. Ming was a little worried about his mental state, his self-esteem may or may not have been replaced by insanity. Not that it ever left.

"Where are we heading to, Ming? I'm getting too warm, wearing this cloak for so long, plus I think its hurting my back somehow." Shen said, keeping his cloak close. Ming, who was in front of him, turned her head. "We're going to first find allies, like you said. Less allies, less supplies, less preparation, low chance of victory." "Why say it like that?" "Because that's how you said it." "Really? I don't remember...oh wait I did say it like that. Except I was yelling." Ming shook her head. "This is what he's come to? He DOES need me." Shen flared his train. "I HEARD THAT! And I find it insulting that you don't think I can make it on my own!" "Shen, just think. You're not gonna make it far if that leg isn't fixed up, and you're already limping."

Shen huffed, and closed his cloak up. "Fine. But you better know what you're doing." They treaded through darker parts of a bamboo forest, Ming leading the way. Shen grumbled about how the forest was so big, and that they weren't getting anywhere. The peahen kept telling him to shush and just follow her along. Eventually, they reached some sort entrance to a cave, and it looked inhabited. Shen eyed it curiously. "Why are we here?" "Because I know she lives here." "Who?" She just told him to walk with her and find out.

They eased their way into the cave, keeping watch for anything that moves. Shen listened for any source of movement, to sense if anyone really is here. He heard a patter of tiny feet, and turned quickly. "Who's there?" He turns around, only to see that Ming was gone, not that he could see well in there. He heard the patters again, and turns again. "Show yourself!" He had knives ready to throw, if the thing was hostile. He then heard a cooing voice: "If you insist..." Something fast came at him, and he ducked quickly to avoid it. He armed himself with the knives, and threw them at the object, only for it to dodge them, clashing at the walls. The figure dropped to the floor, and eyed him. "What? You asked me to show myself, here I am."

"I can't see you!" "That's the point." It came at him again, and he back handed it, only for it to grab his wing and toss him into the wall. When he landed, he was on his feet, and tried to see the figure, only for it to kick at his head, knocking him to the floor. He tries to rise again, only to be thrown across the ground again, hurting his bad leg, making him hiss in pain. He was feeling his talon starting to bleed again. "Oh dear...you look injured...why not just leave now? You know I don't have to kill you, but I could." Shen clenched his teeth, and took a deep breath. "Get a hold of yourself Shen...you can't rely on eyes anymore, because you practically only have one usable one left...just use other senses..."

He took a breath, and calmly listened for the source of the sound again. He stood still, waiting patiently. After a minute, he heard movement, and moved left, and jumped up to kick it into the ground. He heard it get back up, and he threw three knives from his cloak, pinning whatever was there to the ground. He opens his eye, and saw something struggling to get out of the knife's pinch. "Gah! Release me!" Shen smirked at the forms helplessness, and held another knife in his wing. "Now if I did that, I couldn't kill you for blindsighting me, could I?" "That's enough!"

He turns, and sees Ming, walking from the shadows, coming to help the pinned figure. "You already won, there is no need to kill her." Shen looked at the figure. "Her?" Ming helped the thing up, and it huffed. "Yes, I'm a HER. My name is Scorpion." Shen waved his wing. "You're Scorpion? The one who almost took over the Valley of Peace with mind control poison?" "Yes. Who are YOU supposed to be?" He huffed, and removed his hood to show his head. Scorpion gasped. "S-Shen? You weren't killed by the Dragon Warrior after all?"

Shen looked away. "Yes, even I thought I was-wait, you know about the panda?" Scorpion cautiously hopped on his shoulder. "Because I was defeated by him multiple times before, but you...a year...you're still alive?" "Yes yes I got that. Now Ming, why are we here?" The peahen approached them both. "She's an expert of medical terms, how do you think she improves her poison? She's going to help you fix your leg." "I am? I mean, sure. But why me?" "You're the only one we could find on short notice, we don't have a lot of time, just get started, okay? Shen has to be better when we head back out."

So for a few hours, Shen had to play patient to Scorpion while Ming took watch outside. Scorpion, while working, tried to make small talk. "So how'd you survive? It can't be a revival of the dead right?" "There are times I wish I DID stay dead, if that's the case. Because then I wouldn't suffer the scars that panda's caused to my body. A peacock proves a huge part of their supriority by looks. And I've always been considered hideous, but this has gone too far." Scorpion listened to every word, while steadily fixing up his leg. After a few more minutes of trading stories, she was done. "Alright, you should be able to properly use your leg now. Those scars aren't going anywhere though." Shen sighed. "Of course they aren't..."

Ming was seen outside, waving for Shen and Scorpion. "Come on, we have more places to go to." Scorpion hopped on his shoulder again. "I can come? That's never been addressed to me, but i'll come anyway." Shen quietly nods, and walks off with the girls to their next destination.

(Outskirts)

Ming was leading the two to some hut in the middle of another forest, Scorpion keeping an eye on Shen's injuries, making sure they do not open up again. "I'm guessing he lives here." Shen looked at the hut from all sides curiously. "Who?" "Some inventor and his son, one is evil, the other is kinda alright." "Which one is evil?" "Take a good guess." Scorpion saw the warthog coming out now. "Hm...wonder why Taotie's son isn't here?" He turned around to the visitors, and jumped out of surprise. "AH! I didn,t expext visitors! Because almost no one visits me..."

Shen wasted no time, and approached him. "Greetings warthog named Taotie, I am in need of your service. (Brings out talon) As you can see, I need new metal talons that I am able to use in combat, and also weapons to help my cause." "Two questions: I'm looking carefully at you, are you Shen?" "Indeed." "Let's just say that I complied with your demands, what are you offering me?" "Defeating the Dragon Warrior." Taotie gasped. "You want revenge against him too? We have a common cause! But even so, what ele are you offering?" Shen, without blinking, just quickly snatched a knife out of his cloak, and pointed it at the guys throat. He then blankly says, "Your life." "...I'll go get my tools."

He scurries back in his little house, and Shen waited outside patiently, along with the girls. What they didn't realize, is that Jao ws watching them, from behind a couple of bushes, and was intrigued. "He IS alive...this can certainly help our cause. But I must keep my eyes on him, just to be sure." Right next to the wolf, was Sasuke, also watching the peacock. "I see their game, they are gathering up multiple allies who all have a common cause." Jao nodded, and looked back at the peacock, who did not notice them. "Rule China, then the world, and most of all, destroy Po..."  



	7. And They JUST Got There Too

The group of heroes were walking down their current hill, seeing their destination far ahead. Po was going over how exactly were they going to find assistence here, but he kept his cool and said that eventually they'll figure something out. That's why Naruto can look up to him, he has much more patience than he does(kinda). Jhong was unusally calm, because during the entire trip, he was freaking out on a few things. Such as: his feeling of dark forboding, seeing his grandmother, Jao was still after him for reasons only his mother knows and won't tell him, and his relationship between himself and Snow. Speaking of Snow...

"Jhong?" He lifted his head up, and looked at the white wolf. "Yes?" "I have a feeling that you are not telling me something, are you okay?" He tried to look away, because just like Po, when you look a person directly in the eyes, you're a terrible lier. Yes, their both terrible liers. "I'm fine, awesome even. Just...a little tired, that's all. Nothing to truly worry about." Snow wasn't buying it, so she leaned in, and licked his cheek, making him shiver all over. "You're sure?" Jhong was trying to keep his cool as best as he could. "Yes." Snow nodded in a little bit of sadness, because she knew he was lying, and he had something deep on his mind. But chose to drop it, and walk with the others. Jhong sighed, and cursed himself in his thoughts. ("Stupid wolf hormones! I almost slipped!")

Shifu saw that the wolf was having some serious thoughts on his mind, but couldn't go off questioning him, he's still a nervous wolf. He now knows who his father his, and now he's nows that Jhong's afraid of the consequences that it could bring. His thoughts could have gone further, but he felt his tail being gripped softly, surprising him a bit. He turned to see the fox Mei Ling, wrapping her tail around his. "You all are getting worked up over something, I can feel it. Its about the wolf, right?" Shifu was looking back and forth quickly, seeing Monkey and Mantis snickering at the scene, and he flushed. "Mei Ling, if we must show loving affection, will you mind NOT doing it in front of my students?" "But if I did that, I couldn't laugh at the vein popping out of your forehead when you get frustrated." Shifu sighed in embarrassment, trying to keep calm. Because of he snapped now, Lotus and Mei Ling will surely humiliate him further. And he wanted to look presentable to fellow teacher Kakashi.

When they reached the opened gates, they were again in awe at the sight. This place wasn't just big, it was colorful, and very lively. Genesis slithered on before anyone said anything. "Yes, it is always this colorful. At least, when you look in certain areas." Viper slithered next to him, and nudged the cobra playfully. "You certainly found a way to make us cold-blooded reptiles look so warm!" He blushed. "Sure...heh...I guess..." Naruto snickered while walking in front of him. "Oooh...who's going red in the cheeks?" Crystal smiles from behind him. "Yeah Genesis, what's got you going red?" "Why do you all have to pick on me like that, huh? Why can't it be Tigeress?" Naruto blankly stared at him. "Because I don't wanna die? DUH!" You hear Tigeress actually snort. "Hmph! Smart boy."

Po didn't say anything for a while either, things were on his mind. For some reason, Naruto and Jhong are constant targets for capture, and others keep trying to flat out kill him. That's something he's used to now, but its gotten out of hand in some parts. There's that masked guy, that deep voice coming out of nowhere, this Jao guy messing with peoples lives, how curvy Tigeress is...he slapped himself quickly. "What...is...happening to me? I usually don't think about things like that. Its going to mess with my innocent personality, maybe..." (Kurama: "Its just curiousity peaking towards the female, nothing too bad. You just gotta man up to it, is all.) Po lifted his head up, thinking: "That is some reasonable advice...except for one thing...WHO'S GIVING IT?!" Luckily no one heard him, because he was thinking it.

What the group also noticed, is that people were kinda peaceful here, not a lot of crime here. Plenty, but unnoticeable to their eyes. Lotus was sensing the air around them, and took it to account that something was very wrong. "Mates, I do believe that somewhere here, there are problems arising from almost every direction. And...it looks like they are hiding something important." "Lotus, there can't be anything in the air, everything looks fine." Monkey says. Crystal calmly looked through the peoples eyes. They looked rather peaceful, but behind those looks are worrisome emotions being hidden. "No...grandmas right, the people here...they have something hidden in plain view. I also am annoyed by freaky puzzles..."

Po nodded a bit, not saying a word. Naruto was hearing Kurama in his head, stirring. ("Yes...something about the air is making me...I don't know...hungry.") "What the heck does that mean?" ("I'm just saying, normally I wouln't care about things like this, but...I'm just worried that something is very wrong here. I want you to stay safe Naruto.") Naruto paused for a few minutes. "Did you just worry about my safety?" ("Nnnnnnoooooo...of course not! Its just that if you die, I get killed too, amd we're both done for!") "Sure...THAT'S the reason." Lotus appeared out of nowhere in front of him. "You two done babbling?" Naruto flinched, he forgot she could hear him too. ("What the hell woman?! This is a private conversation!") "Not right now, at least." The duo then sighed, linked.

Aoi was just blindly looking around her, waving every few seconds. Bandit was eying her carefully, just to make sure she doesn't disappear again, along with Huan. "Bandit, are you feeling alright?" "Oh! Yes I'm fine! Hehe! Totally okay!" Luminous rubbed his head teasingly. "Aww...your first crush...you should tell me how I can help you with that." "PLEASE...don't." Mr. Ping chuckled a bit, and scratched his ear. "Oh Bandit, are we embarrassing you? Because Jhong thought that it was a good idea." Bandit sweatdropped, and turned toward his older brother, who was finally snickering to himself. "Of course...he didn't forget that I embarrassed him..."

June eventually stopped everyone in their tracks, and turned around. "Here, this is her house right here." Everyone looks at the house, it looked old, but at the same time, decent. Shadow and Sasha tilted their heads. "Its...kinda broken down, a little...isn't it?" June tried not to laugh. "Believe me, she's lasted a longer time here than anyone else. I mean that mother lived here the longest to know a lot about the place. She also stayed here for peace and quiet when my husband and I come home for a few nights at a time. (Blushes) He always knew how to calm me down, and he REALLY knows how to have fun, we used to do ton of michievious things together. Pleasing...he was SO pleasing...Jhong? Do YOU know how to "please" Snow?" The wolves blushed brightly, and Po and Naruto snickered to themselves. Jhong facepalmed. "Kill me now..."

Mantis nudged his shoulder. "So you've gotten that far without anyones help, huh?" Jhong looked at the imsect on his shoulder calmly. "Excuse my attitude...but PLEASE...shut up." Mantis then went silent. June takes a deep breath, and opened the door to the house, AFTER knocking a few times. The group then takes the chance to look around the inside. "Mother? Mother I've come, and I brought company with me." June managed to say. Sarah curiously looked through a couple of artifacts kept in the house, they looked wolf related somehow. "Guess she takes the traditional style to any height she can reach." The fox flicked her ears, and sighed. "Kids, don't touch anything." Aoi and Huan were seen reaching for some mask, when they heard their mother, and sighed, disappointed.

Tigeress was curious about how an old wolf elder has time to gather all of these things and stil have reasonable time for her family. Guess she highly skilled at organizing, or someone else did it for her. There's a sure chance of the second option being truthful. "She seems to know much about mystic prowers..." She continues to look around the room, but then she hears weak whining coming from somewhere. She turns quickly. "Jhong? Bandit? Do you hear whining from somewhere?" Jhong shook his head no, then he sniffed the air carefully. He then froze. "Blood...that shouldn't be...oh no..." he quickly ran into the upper rooms, searching into the bedrooms. He stopped immediately, while June and Bandit appeared being him.

"MOTHER!" June quickly ran to the elderly wolf's side, she was on the ground, bleeding. It could be seen through her blue robe. She eventually started to slowly open her eyes, to see the three wolves looking at her worriedly. She weakly propped herself up with her cane, and surprisingly, smiled. "I...didn't tidy...up enough...for...visitors...today...so this may be...a bad time..." She took a minute to collect herself, holding her side, and looked at the three more carefully. "Oh my...daughter...and you brought me the grandchildren too? I admit...the little one is new...and Jhong, you grown so much...oh how I wish that you came at a later time..." Jhong went to hold her up. "Any later, you'd be dead!" "Nonsense boy, I've had worse."

They lead her downstairs, so that the others can see them. Lotus approached first. "Oh Juan! What have you gotton yourself into now?!" The wolf growled at her. "You think I did this to myself you old vixen! Some decided to attack me in my own home. Can you believe that?" "That depends on if you did something." Crane took Juan's paw, and sat her down on one matt in the room. "This doesn't look too bad, don't worry, I can patch this up in no time." Something was then heard outside. "You have worse things to worry about." A few of the guys decide to investigate the voice, while Crane and Lotus stayed to care for Juan. Po makes it there first, and he is surprised.

"Fenghuang...you're here?" The owl was smirking from on top of one of the other buildings, looking down on the group. "Hello again, all. Looks like my action caught your attention after all." Shifu stepped forward. "Enough foolishness! What do you want?" "Oh. Nothing too important...except I'm here to reveal the truth about a certain somebody. Hmm...yes...you right there." Her wing was pointed at Naruto. "Me? What truth do you know about me?" Fenghuang jumped from her perch, and landed in front of everyone. "Yes you. I'm not going to lie for once, I didn't get it at first. But now I have you figured out." Crystal felt sick all of a sudden, but knew she had to hear it. "How do you have me "figured out?" "Simple facts boy, I know your little secret." Kakashi processed what she said, and grew fearful. "She can't..."

Fenghuang heard that, and smirked. She then faked a gasp, even putting a wing on her chest. "Oh my...you never told them, did you?" Mantis, confused, looked at Kakashi. "Dude, what is she talking about?" Monkey scratched his head. "What does she know about him?" Po was completely silent, but was wondering the same thing. Viper turned her head to said teacher. "Have you been hiding something about Naruto this entire time?" He turns to Shifu and Tigeress, with the latter's arms folded. "Kakashi...since Fenghuang is an enemy, I have the first thought of not believing her, but how you reacted gave me a different idea. I think you have not been honest with us as you claimed." Kakashi, on a very rare note, started to panic on the inside.

The owl then proceeded to smirk again. "Woah...you truly didn't tell them? That's alright." She took something out of her vest, and lowers her eyes halfway. She's taken out some sort of whistle, it was black colored and it looks evil. "Because I have a special artifact right here that will just show you what they've been hiding. What does it do? You'll find out soon..." She closed her eyes, opened her beak, and gently blowed into the whistle. For a few minutes, it seemed as if nothing was happening. But then, Naruto's head started to throb, and he strayed away from everyone. Crystal saw him, and reached her paw towards him. "Naruto?" The blonde grabbed his head in pain. "What...ugh...what's going on?"

(Kurama was grabbing his giant fox ears in agony, and had his head on the ground, whining. "Damn! What is that accursed sound?! That silent noise is killing my ears! Its like a torturing dog whistle! UGH!" The fox noticed that some swirling purple mist was circling around his body, it then turned to chains, and he was unable to move. "What the?! Who's doing this?! Show yourself coward!" Nothing showed up, but he defintely heard a voice. "Why Kurama...you look irritated...yet you never were the calm type anyway..." The fox widend his eyes, and looked around. "Fang? What are you doing? I can't see you!" "Course you can't, because i'm not really here. But my influence is, and now, I'll borrow your crimson power for a little while, nothing serious or anything." Kurama struggled in his dark chains. "Don't you dare! Release me!")

Naruto was groaning in angry pain, and he was on his knees. By now everyone was away chasing Fenghuang down, he was all alone. "Ugh...what's...going on...my head...is pounding intensely..." his hands were digging into his head, and he was unaware that they were now glowing red, and his nails now grew longer and sharper. His teeth turns to fangs, and the whiskers on his face were get darker. His hair grew wild, and the eyes were now glowing red too. His entire body was now beginning to glow in red chi, and it took the shape of a fox, forming around him. His cloak also grew two tails and ears. When it finally stopped, Naruto was on all fours, and his eyes were closed. "Grrrr..." (Kurama: "No Naruto! You can't expose yourself like this, you MUST resist!" Fang:"No no, no no. He's doing just fine. Now boy, here's what you are going to do, just simply cause a ruckus...by simply destroying your friends...") Naruto held his head high, and snarled. He then began to run towards the fight, leaving steaming claw marks behind.

(Back with the others)

Fenghuang was fighting off Kakashi, Tigeress, and Shifu. She could almost see that they were not happy with what she revealed, but this was what she wanted. "Aw...you all must be upset, by the truth. See how that works?" She briefly clawd Tigeress at her chest, and she used her wings to force a wind around her to knock them off the building. "See now what truth brings? It almost as bad as lies. Why bother?" She laughs and turns around, only to see Kakashi come out from the ground and uppercut her, then kick her into another structure, almost making it collapse. She almost got up, but he stepped on her wing, keeping her from moving. "Who told you?" The owl simply smirked. "Why, I merely figured it out on my own will. It was just a matter of piecing things together. You thought you've done a terrific job at hiding it, but it eventually started being obvious." Kakashi was about to strike, but felt that something was seriously wrong, so at that, he just left her there, letting her recover. She turned her back, and smirked. "Have fun. Hmhmhm..."

Po, Jhong, and Crane were busy treating Juan's wounds while the others were out chasing Fenghuang. Some things just weren't right enough in thie situation for him to relax. "Why would Fenghuang want to attack a random elder wolf? I mean, sure she may be evil enough to do that, but...she wouldn't be doing this without her gaining something out of it." Crane was rewrapping Juans wounds, while she was simply huffing. "So you think I'm a lier then?" "No no! I'm just saying, there are things about this that just doesn't add up." Crane finished his part, and went to put up the medicine. "Maybe she's just doing this for th cruelty of it, she definitely has the attitude." "Well...yeah...maybe it is just her being evil and junk, nothing too special here." Jhong was silent for a bir, and came up with something. "Maybe its because she knew that we'd come here, and that we needed her..." Po turns to the younger wolf. "Really? But how could she know that-" "HAAAAAAARGH!" Po suddenly felt evil chi fill the air in the area, and got chills. "That...can't be good..."

(Other Place)

Shen was taking a step, his new metal talons clanking onto the ground. His wepons now consisted with a newer and better lance, that can detach with a hidden chain inside it. His small knives were also laced with poison on the very tip. There was something in his robes that looked pretty important, but it was out of plain view. Ming and Scorpion were walking side by side, looking him over. "Well...you got yourself some new weapons, new feet, better planning, and two good allies." Ming said. Shen, with one good eye, held his head high. "Thank you." "Now we just gotta work on your personality!" "Very funny." But suddenly, he stopped, and drew some knives in his wing. "I know you are there! Come out amd show yourself!"

The rustling in the bushes stopped, and something came out of it. "Well Master, seems nothing can get past you, am I right?" Shen saw the wolf come into view, and lowered his weapons slightly. "Jao? What are YOU doing here?" Jao merely shrugged, and smirked. "That I'm here to return to your service..."

(Unknown Location)  
Sasuke was sitting in a cave, wondering when Fenghuang and Jao would be back. He was sent back here to make sure that their hiding spot was not compromised. But unknown to him, that has already happened. "It is very frustrating that I've been sent on guard duty. I'm a better warrior than that." He looked around the cave again, and felt something in the air. "Sasuke..." "What?" He turns to see a figure in the cave entrance. Tobi. "We need to talk." By pure instinct, he gripped his sword tightly, but didn't take it out. "You..." 


	8. Is There Still A Chance?

Sasuke was staring the masked man down, still gripping the sword in his hilt. He just felt like...like something was seriouly wrong with him. He was not moving an inch. "You...who are you? How'd you find this place?" Tobi did not move either, but his expression could not be determined. Because...you know. "Sasuke...how could you think that I would not find you? It was not very hard at the least." "I'm telling you, no one else knows where this place is. Now...who are you?" Tobi's one eye closed only a bit, in realization. "So...its not an act...you really don't remember me?" "Should I?" Tobi shook his head. He really was being serious. "Look Sasuke...you're not who you think you are right now, its all a ruse." Sasuke wasn't convinced. "How would you know that? Did you have something to do with my tattered memories?"

Tobi stood in silence for a minute, already knowing the answer but it will not serve in his favor. And if he lies, Sasuke's trust dwindles farther down a endless abyss. "You truly don't remember a thing? Hm...looks like I need to take a few tests, just to be sure." Tobi was then beginning to slowly walk towards him. But at that short few seconds, he tilted his head to the left, to dodge an incoming blade of lightning, and did so calmly. Sasuke had his hand out, cackling with energy. "Stay...away from me..." Tobi huffed. "Well...you at least you remember how to do that...and by instinct...you are a special one indeed." "Enough with the riddles! Why are you here?!" Tobi sighed a little. "And you also still have your great level of patience...you must listen to me boy." Sasuke was slowly withdrawing his sword. "Why should I?" Tobi suddenly warped right behind him, and threw him into the wall within a second. Sasuke groaned in pain, slowly getting up. "Okay...maybe THAT'S why..."

He finally stood up, looking at Tobi closely. "How'd you do that?" "Once again, you'd like to know something that I cannot tell you. Your memory loss will make it even more impossible for you to understand, so I cannot give you any answers." Sasuke scowled. "You trying to say that you're better than me?" "Actually, I know I'm better than you, because I have many years of experience above yours. Some of your abilities, you wouldn't even have if it wasn't for me." He was looking for something in Sasuke's eyes, trying to see if he remembers anything more than he admits. But he sees nothing. "No doubt that you still have all of your power, but you cannot access it as well as you used to. Just come with me, we'll get that fixed soon." Sasuke already knew that this meant serious trouble, and flashed his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Not...a...chance..." Tobi didn't react much, he expected this. "You'll change your mind. You don't have a choice." Tobi warped, and vanished. Sasuke stood outside the cave, looking outside the mountain. "I don't know who you are...but you are definitely someone I can't trust...I can't trust anyone..." Jinx flew in at that time, and looked him over. "You got in a fight or something?" She said it in a gossipy kind of tone. Sasuke huffed. "But for some reason...I can trust her..."

(Back with Shen and Jao)

"Lord Shen, you don't need to act defensive around me. I'm here to keep my loyalty to you. Can't you trust me?" Jo was trying to appeal to the partly paranoid Shen, who had his knives at the ready. "Seriously? How long have you known about my survival? Is anyone following you?" Jao tried to hold back a chuckle. "Me? Being followed? Oh, you have lost faith in me my Lord! You know that I'm your most reliable spy, if someone was tracking me, I would have known about it." Ming was interested in Jao's claim. "So what? You're like some secret assassin or something?" Jao licked his lips. "You call it assassination, I call it that...AND dinner." Scorpion shivered. "Even I'm not that sick, and I collect skulls!" Jao raised an eyebrow. "And who are you two? My Lord, is the peahen your new mate?"

Ming blushed intensely. "Wha-wha-what?! I am NOT his mate! I just kept his body alive for an entire year! Nothing else!" Jao chuckled a bit. "You kept his body hidden huh? Healing it? What else did you do with him? You had a YEAR to think of ideas..." Now Shen was the one blushing, and he looked at Ming. "It was all JUST healing...right? Nothing more than that?" Ming suddenly shouted: "CAN WE GET BACK TO THE MAIN TOPIC PLEASE?!" Everyone shivered at her loud voice, but they all calmed down. Shen turned his head back to Jao. "And what would you offer me, along with your returning service?"

Jao smirked darkly, and howled as loud as he could. He was surrounded in a dark energy, and the entire area rumbled some. And after a few seconds, a multitude of wolves appeared in the area, howling in sinc with him. He soon stopped, along with them, and looked back at Shen. "How about THIS? Wolf army, both improved AND larger. That enough?" Shen smirked viciously, and was also covered in a dark veil of energy. "Alright Jao, you've officially regained my attention. Let us attend these matters...elsewhere." Jao nodded, and the girls shrugged their shoulders, saying whatever. When they began heading off, Jao was thinking to himself. "If my Lord is going to rule China permanently, I'll have to appeal to Master Fang. And also..." He took something out of his vest, looked at it, and his eyes went an ominous purple. "I may have to get rid of some dead weight..." In his hand...was a portrait of Po's family, when he was a cub. His mother was slashed out by a claw mark, siginfying her death, while Po and his birth father was left untouched. "Panda Master Cho...I know where you are...and I'm coming for you...and this time you wil not escape my claws. Then...you shall watch as your only family left is annilhilated...Hehehehe...hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" While he evilly cackled, we see that it was zooming in closely on Po's father, signifying bad things to happen...

(With Po and the others)

The guys inside were stuck in place, trying to picture what could be causing such a racket. "Wha...what's with this...evil feeling in the air? Its...chilling...to the bone." Po was saying, shivering. Crane was too shaken up to move at all, for the moment. "Alright...whatever is going on, it is absolutely not a good sign. I hear explosions all over the place-" BOOM! The guys jumped again, and looked outside to scan the wreckage. There was so much smoke in the air that they couldn't see a thing. "GAH! You've got to be kidding me! Fenghuang can't possibly be causing all of that destruction on her own, no matter how powerful she is!" Jhong was able to see through the smoke, his eyes were glowing purple, but he didn't realize it. Strange..."Uh, Mast-I mean, Po? I see who it is...and you're not gonna be happy about it..." Po looked at the wolf, confused. "Why?" Po saw the smoke clear a little bit, looked down at the area, and widened his eyes. "It...it can't be..." It was two tailed Naruto who was destroying everything in his path, not caring who was in his way.

Crane was shaking his head in disbelief. "That can't be OUR Naruto, right? Yet...it's undeniable...it is him..." Po was seeing the rampage his brother was causing, and was trying to think. "I was warned that this would happen...I have to stop him. And fast." Po sat up, and was running out of the house. "Po wait! We can't seriously be thinking about fighting Naruto, are we?" Po sadly looked down at the floor, sighing. "We don't have a choice. Come on Crane, let's go. Jhong, you stay here." Po ran out again, while Crane followed right behind him, and Jhong stayed behind with his grandmother Juan and his brother Bandit, looking worried. "He's such a passionate young lad, just like yourself. You need to trust that they can solve this, young one." Juan said. Jhong looked at her, and whined. "I hope you're right..."

Meanwhile, Kakashi was heading for Naruto's location as fast as he could, hoping he wasn't too late. "This can't happen...not now...anytime but now..." He was silently hoping this, knowing that it wasn't true, but he had to try. Things have been going wrong in nothing for a few hours, just because of an owl. An...experienced...powerful...cunning...owl...DAMN IT! He keeps underestimating this world's warriors, and he keeps paying for it, and it gets worse and worse every time. Naruto almost died multiple times just because he didn't get there in time. He still didn't see Sasuke anywhere, because BOTH Naruto AND Po have seen him for sure. "Okay...now I just got to find a way to calm him down before he accidently kills somebody." He was speeding towards the destruction, when Tigeress pounced in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "I'll deal with you later. We have to organize the residents to a safe spot."

Back with Naruto, he was still currently tearing things apart, not caring who saw him or not, much less who gets hurt. "Grrr..." He tore another building apart with his paw tedrils, and it completely fell apart. He eyed everything that looked smashable, and he couldn't stop himself from destroying more things. One roar, and two houses have been reduced to nothing but wreckage, and people scattering. Not acknowledging any screams of terror or pain, he was charging through the streets on all fours. Up in the skies, Fenghuang was watching everything from above, smiling evily, maybe even laughing a little. "Hahaha! Oh execellent! The boy HAS been keeping something from me, but I had no idea that it would be this big! And it doesn,t even look like its full power. Ohhh...I MUST tell my beloved of this, wonder what he's doing anyway?" Seeing that the damage was done, and still being dealt, she flew out in another direction, heading back to the cave.

In a safe distance, Crystal was sitting with her younger siblings, watching over them. "What's taking them so long? It can't be SUPER hard to beat just one owl, right? They should be done by now." Mei Ling(mountain cat) was sheepishly twirling her tail, in boredom. "Yeah...but I'm sure they have it under control, they are Masters after all. Naruto isn't too bad either." Crystal heard this, and sat up. "I know...but-" Something flashed for a moment in her mind, and she froze up. "Oh no..." "Crystal? Are you okay?" "I gotta go, watch the twins!" Crystal was out in the field, running towards the destruction on all fours. Mei Ling was atonished. "She...ditched me...TWICE." Huan and Aoi were sitting a few feet behin her, kicking their feet. "You think Bandit's okay?" Huan rubbed his neck. "I dunno, I hope he is...he HAS to be right? The Masters have this down, I'm sure they are all alright." Aoi sighed, and looked toward the tiny spot of destruction, worrying.

Right back with the others, Po was running building behind building, trying to keep himself hidden from a rampaging Naruto's sight. It was not easy. "Gotta figure out how to diffuse him...he's gonna blow at this rate...how to power him down..." Naruto was snarling the entire time he was walking down this road, wiping out whatever was in his way. The Five were on top of a building, looking more worried than angry at the situation. Viper was probably feeling the most conflicted. "Naruto...what's doing this to you? Is this the secret?" Mantis was on Cranes hat, pondering the same thing. Monkey was on the other side of the building, along with Tigeress and Kakashi, trying to think of a plan. "Kakashi. You said this happened before, what do we do?" Kakashi sat there, in thought. "Last time I remember this happening, I had the sealing tag with me, but that's not the case this time. So we only have two options: We get him to calm down, or we have to knock him unconscious. Both are pretty much close to impossible, let's try to choose the faster one." Tigeress shook her head. "Grrrr...I would never think actually trying to fight him...we better make this fast, if possible."

Po was obviously saddened by this, and said nothing right now. His friends were fighting his brother, and it looks like Viper shares the same thoughts as he did, because she barely moved a muscle. Po was hurriedly trying to fimd a way to stop the maddness as painless as possible. "Think...I don't want to hurt him, and yet at the same time he unconsciously wnts to tear apart my flesh. Gotta think..." Nothing as come to mind yet, as he watches Naruto on his rampage. Kakashi was aware of Po's stress, and knew that there was nothing he could do right for him. Two-tailed Naruto was very much hurting their friends and himself, but Po knew that he didn't mean any of it. Po made his decison, and jumped off the building into the fray.

Naruto was about to smash nother structure, but Po called after him. "HEY!" Naruto stopped, and snarled at the panda, who stood his ground. "Listen dude, my mind was seriously jacked trying to figure out how to deal with this. But I now know that the only way to stop it is to take you down!" Po was at the ready, and Two-Tailed Naruto charged at him, making way for quick claw slash, and Po caught it in his paws. "Dude, come on. I don't want to do this, you gotta snap out of it!" All of a sudden, Naruto's cloak grew a third tail, and his eyes went completely red, and snarled darker. One tail creeped its way around Po, an smashed into his side, making him crash into another structure. Po rubbed his head in pain. "Okay, he snapped...but he didn't snap OUT of it...what's a pand gotta do to get-WOAH!" Another tedril tried to impale him, and he dodged to the right, landing on his back. Naruto was about to pounce him with his sharp chi claws, but Po was able to dodge, and grab a tail. "Okay, let's see if this works!" He managed to lift Naruto by his chakra tails and throw him into another building.

Po stood triumphant for a few minutes, but held his aching paw. "Okay...red energy burns...noted." He suddenly felt an extreme pain ion his stomach, and grabbe it painfully. "GAH!" Naruto has slashed him with his claws, and knocked him into another building, pinning him down. He readied another car strike, but Viper was standing right in between them, having tears in her eyes. Naruto was readying to strike her down, about to slash off her head. "Naruto...stop." He suddenly stopped all of a sudden, and looked at the serpent carefully. She was crying because her adopted son was possessed by a dark force and he can't break free. And soon he finds himself unable to harm her. He didn't even realize that Po was standing a few feet away, readying something.

"Inner Peace...he needs to feel peaceful...what if I...OH! The Hero's Chi! I know what to do! Even though it might mean that a would probably be messed up a bit more...beaten up, I mean..." He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, letting the universe flow around him. Now, here's the catch: When he made his foot slide, instead of nothing, a golden light followed right after it. He waved a paw, gold followed that too. He was simply usuing his Hero's Chi, trying to create an extra build for Inner Peace. And while he was doing that, the same bright golden light surrounding himself was surrounding Naruto too, and he could not move because of it. His movements were straddling the Nine Tails chi away from Naruto's physical being, taking it apart without getting rid of it, piece by piece. When he finished, both paws were set down, and Naruto's cloak has vanished. He then passed put, and Po was quick to catch him. He tried to stay awake, but it was no use. "Its okay bro, you're settled now...its okay..."

(A few hours later)

"Naruto...sweetie...wake up please...Naruto?" The boy opened his eyes, and looked around the room. His friends were all there, worried, but trying to smile. "Naruto, you are...okay?" Jhong asks nervously. The blonde managed to sit up. "Yeah...I guess..." When she was sure it wasn't harmful, Viper slithered onto his bed, and coiled on his legs, raising her head to his level. "Are you positive? Nothing else is wrong?" "I'm alright mom. Really." Viper was skeptic, but smiles warmly. "Glad to hear that, now, let's just tak a minute to talk some with the gang, okay?" Naruto nodded, and looked towards the others. "Hey guys, is-" Crystal walked forth. "Hold on." She walked up to him, and leaned into Naruto's face, and her vixen lips connected with his, making him shiver. But only for a second, and she stepped back. "Okay. You can talk now."

Naruto was at a lost for words. "Uh..." (Kurama, now free of dark shackles, chuckled. "You're acting like how the panda does when he imagines the female tiger doing-) "SHUT UP!" Po exclaimed loudly. Everyone went O_O at that, and he nervously rubbed his neck. "Eh...sorry." Naruto wae confused. "How did you..." Tigeress walked by the bed, and knelt down. "Naruto, Kakashi told us about the Nine Tails. You don't have to hide it." "Wha?" Tigeress was looking into his eyes. "We had no idea how much of a burden that you were carrying most of your life. We shouldn't have pushed you too hard." Everyone else nodded in agreement, each silently apologizing. Shifu looked him over, and quickly stood on his staff, and patted his head. "Good to see you are okay, young one. Now, I believe we have matters to attend to." Naruto stood up. "Hold on! How is it that Po can hear the Nine-Tails?" Monkey walked out woth everyone else. "Dude, he's the Dragon Warrior. He's kinda connected to the spiritual side of things without even trying. And THAT'S why...its close to impossible for a proper sleep."

Juan, fully healed, walked into the living room, wagging her tail. "Alright, the lad's okay. Now we can get to buisness." Naruto looked at her carefully. "What buisness?" Juan quickly grabbed a staff and hit his head with it. "Ow!" "What do ya think ya knucklehead? We're gonna find your comrades that's what!" Naruto instantly kept his attention. "Really? Sakura and Shikamaru are okay?" Juan nodded, sipping some tea. "Of course! But...its not gonna be easy. You,re gonna have to go into the Spirit Realm to fetch them." Kakashi instantly came in the picture. "How'd they end up there?" "Beats me. Now...you wanna get there or not? Because I know how to manage that." Lotus smirks, and walks up to the wolf. "Yes...that special room eh?" Juan nodded her head, and lead the way somewhere else with her cane. "Follow me young'ns. Time is at the essence."

While they followed the elderly wolf, Shifu stepped closer to Kakashi. "You told them the truth, but not all of it?" "I had no choice. I want them to lose trust in me, unless it causes a negative impact on Naruto. Otherwise we would have no negatives." Jhong and June, along with Bandit, were looking far ahead into the rooms, sniffing out the air. "A lot of magic was done here, what has grandma been doing here?" Jhong said. Next to him, Snow was there, along with Scarlet on his shoulder. "Magic? What else is there?" "I dunno Scarlet. It just feels kinda weird, is all." Juan stopped by a glowing room, and sipped a little more tea. "Here we are." The place was glowing with a curious but calm blue, and some things were even floating in the air. Crane adjusted his hat. 'Some spirit portal." "Don't go judging it now. Weren't you told about not doing that? I see that the tiger's learned that lesson." Tigeress was stunned. "How'd you know?" "Well let's see: A big fat pamda you oh so ridiculed for no reason, absolutely having no kung fu skills whatsoever, is now a true Master. And you...you were mistaken for a guy multiple times, haven't you?" O_O That's all she had on her face.

"Okay Naruto, you can get to to the Spirit Realm from here. And you can take two allies with ya. But that's all. Take your pick." Juan said, a little tired. Naruto did not hesitate very long. "Mom and Jhong." The wolf widened his eyes, and Viper gasped. "But...why us?" Naruto looked down. "I dunno...I feel like I am really going to need you guys with me on this go. Plus, Po's gotta stay and defend things or whatever." "True..." Juan yawned, and then nodded. "Alrighty then, let's get it over with, I'm getting really sleepy. We'll hold the fort here. Just meditate on that circle." The three nodded, and sat (or coiled) on the floor, closed their eyes, and began to meditate calmly. And after a few moments, their bodies started to glow blue, and they found their consciousnes somewhere else. Po and Kaksh looked on. "Awesome..." "Careful Naruto...there's no telling what you'll encounter." Everyome nodded, and decided to take shifts guarding their bodies, so that no one is dragging them away. Tigeress and Po took the first shift, for personal reasons.n

Tigeress chose to speak. "Po? Are you not worried for our friends? You seem awfully calm. Which is not at all bd." Po looked at her. "I'm terrified out of my mind Tigress. None of us have any experience with spiritual issues, I got lucky, that's all." Tigeress frowned. "Nonsense. You've earned the spot where you are now, and with honor. Even though you jinx some of them...not the point. What matters is that you are here, you are strong, and you are kind. Of course you can master this as well." Po turned back to her, and smiles. "Thanks Tigeress." After a few minutes..."I'm still smarter than you though." Po sweatdropped. "And...there it is..."

(Spirit Realm)

Jhong groaned from his new headache, and tried to stand up. "Naruto? Master Viper? Are you two here somewhere? I can't see you." Naruto jumped out of some green pond, and shook himself up to dry off. Jhong shortly had to do the same thing. "Yah dude, I'm fine. So...this is where Sakura and Shikamaru have been dragged off to, huh?" The Spirit Realm has almost no limits, it looks like it could go on forever. The guys were standing next to a hollow tree, glowing with blue energy. "Cool...hold on! Where's mom?" Jhong's eyes were O_O for a second. "Uh...found her..." Naruto stood to the wolf's level, and gasped. "What's the matter guys? Is something on my face?" Viper was looking at the pond's reflection, trying to figure it out.

Naruto already did. "M-mom...when did you get so big?" Viper tilted her head to the right. "What do you mean?" She looked at herself, and gasped loudly. "Oh my gosh! I've grown a little bigger haven't I?" As of right now, she was bigger than that boulder next to her which was roughly bigger than Po. "Ok...maybe a LOT bigger?" Naruto rubbed his neck. "Okay...how are we going to do this? You are a giant!" Viper put a giant tail on her lip, and thought for a bit. "Wanna ride on my back?" Jhong and Naruto tried to ponder this. "Okay. Let's give it a try!" The two jumped on her back, and she slithered into the spiritual wilderness, prepring for the worst. Time to search for lost friends...


	9. A Test Of Trust, And A Forboding Dream

**Sorry! My tablet went rogue! There was nothing I could do about it. I had to be patient and type this on my phone. Sorry to hold up whoever still reads this series.**

**Anyway, this chapter is mostly about trust, in some cases. Naruto and Viper made a serious move to test their trust and love to each other, as foster related family. **

**Find out how and why in this chapter. _I don't own Naruto or KFP, okay? Okay!_**

* * *

Back in the little house, the group was keeping a very close eye out for trouble possibly on the horizon. Let's face facts: You're friends are in a completely different dimensional plane than you are, you tend to get nervous. Seriously, if it wasn't for Naruto, Viper, and Jhongs quiet steady breathing, you'd think that they're dead. The blue glow doesn't help the thought. But everyone who was left took the chance to watch over them so that no one dangerous would run off with them. The only ones who had absolutely no patience were Po, Sasha, and Kakashi. Yet Kakashi had a leash on any doubts, and Sasha was known to be relaxed under certain circumstances, but Po...was currently pacing. Pacing about realizing the fact that they sent their friends to a place they just barely know about.

For once, it was not funny.

"Oh man...Why didn't we go with them? We could have gone with them, for back up, right? I mean, i'm not saying that they can't handle themselves, but it would be better if we did. You know, for assurance? I mean, is it really too much to-" BAM! There goes Tigeress, needing to slap some sense into him. The one negative feedback...since she's trained her paws with steel trees for twenty years...and recently using FIRE paws...that hurts. "Owww...Tigeress...why'd you have to hit me so hard?" "What are you talking about? I wasn't going for a hard hit." Po shivered, she wasn't trying? He feels his cheek burning, and that's what she's saying? "Anyway, you must stop worrying Po, you ususally don't freak out THIS hard. This is certainly something that bothers you, isn't it?"

Sasha teleports back into the room, tired. "He surely made it so that I couldn't sleep, I barely got a chance to wink. Watching a panda pace around everywhere is harder than I thought." Kakashi kept a cool mind, knowing that Naruto was in good hands. But he also knew that Po thought the same thing, its just sibling worry. They had so much in common, he's noticed. They were practically brothers, just like- "Hey, Kakashi. You feelin' alright there?" "Yeah, I'm...I'm fine." Just then, Juan came in with June and Lotus, holding her custom staff. "Alright youngn's, time for a shift change. June and the others are gonna stay here and watch them. But you three(Po, Kakashi, and Shifu) are comin' with me and Lotus for a very important secret operation."

Shifu walked up to them curiously. "What kind of important secret operation?" Lotus chuckled. "We can't tell ya here! That's why its a secret! Until we get there, its a secret! Don't cha got any sense..."Fufie?" "HAHAHAHAHA!" Shifu was red with both embarassment and anger. "Mei Ling...even when you're NOT here you find out how to embarrass me...why me though...I'm a reasonable person..." Kakashi looked over Shifu's head slowly. "Woah...you CAN see a vein pop out when he's mad." Shifu sharply looked back at him, and he retreated backwards. "Anyway...sure, let us go...wherever we are going." Po nodded silently, and went to go, but looked at Tigress. "You can take care of them, right?" "You can count on me Po. I promise you."

They smiled at each other with trust, and Po went away, leaving her with her remaining friends in the house. She made sure that Naruto, Jhong, and Viper where in earshot in case of issues, and sat down to meditate in peace. Some things were on her mind, and they were unbelievebly the same thoughts that she had for a year. "How special is Naruto? He is pretty much part spiritual, and that must be what's giving him extra stamina. But...Kakashi told us the truth...yet I might be the only one who knows that he is not being completely honest with us. There must be a deeper meaning to it all...but I may not like the answer...and besides...Po might have made promises to keep things quiet...(looks at Naruto) and I bet even you don't know what purpose you have in the world. Must be hard to wonder that..." Tigress was back into her thoughts, trying to find peaceful thoughts.

"Master Tigress?" Well...that lasted only a few seconds... Sighing, she turns to the door in the room. "Who's there?" Right near the doorway, there was the little wolf pup, Bandit, standing there curiously. "Bandit? Why are you in here? Weren't you taking a nap?" "I couldn't sleep well..." He was walking to the feline on all fours, whining silently. Tigress knew something was up. "What's wrong?" Bandit took a long glance at his brothers trance, and she put it together. "You worried about Jhong?" He nodded silently, and sat next to her. "This isn't the first time my brother's had to put himself at risk, he always came back. But...now there is a chance that he won't...I don't want him to be lost, to me he's the best." Tigeress put a paw on his shoulder, for comfort. "Its not wrong for brothers to worry about one another, it shows how much you love each other. Don't you think so?" Bandit wasn't entirely sure, but he wasn't denying it either. "I guess so. Its just hard for me to just wait for him. He never asked for this much pressure, it just came up in his face...because he's a wolf..." Bandit walked into a circle, and lied down to sleep, still whining quietly. "Its hard for him to be both a big brother and a papa all at once..."

Tigeress heard this, and puzzled. "How can that be?" "Its because of his dad." Tigeress looked back at the door, it was Crystal, she walked over and kneeled next to Bandit, petting his head, soothing him in his slumber. "His dad was almost never there for him. So when his brother was born, Jhong had to fend for both himself and Bandit over the years while their mother tried to keep them away from Shen's claws. Meanwhile I was the only kid who's ever stood up for him when we were younger. It was tough, but I never quit on him, because he needed me. As he got older, he had to be the man of the house, you know? His dad was there to serve, and he was loyal, but that didn't mean his pack suddenly meant nothing, because they come first. When he died...Jhong completely realized that he was not going to survive long without some help. So he came to you guys."

Tigeress thought back a bit. "You think that's why he's stressed right now? He knows that his father did bad things for the good of the pack, and now its crashing down on the sons." Crystal nodded. "The sins of the father will be brought down upon the son... I find that completely unfair, but that's exactly what's happening to Jhong.(looks to the side) Do you think that's happening to Naruto?" Tigeress jumped at the sudden question. "What do you mean?" Crystal shrugged. "Its just a hunch. I mean, is it something his parents did that's making his life so hard? Was it because that they whatever they did was for him? I wonder this because...I saw his eyes...they looked...so...lonely...very...very...lonely... And I am certain that Po saw this too." Tigeress was now even more interested. "Po knows. Even the first time he saw Naruto, he knew that he's been through suffering, and that he was going to help him out of it. Its...just what brothers do."

Tigress suddenly realized something. "None of them are telling me the entire truth of their pasts...not even Jhong and Po...they trust us completely. Its just that..." Crystal smiled sadly, still petting Bandit. "Its just that they can't trust themselves to talk about it with anyone..."

(With the others)

Mantis, Monkey, Crane, Vincent, Scarlet, Jake and Snow were going through town, looking for something to occupy their time. Jake and Scarlet were perched on Cranes hat, chatting about things. "And you say that you are too small to be a warrior? That can't possibly be true, since you are an awesome one, and pretty." Scarlet giggled. "Oh Jake!" Vincent was watching the birds curiously, pondering. "W-why can't I-I talk to S-Sasha like that? I j-just w-want to have a decent t-talk with her w-without s-stuttering all t-the time..." Mantis hopped on his shoulder. "You need some girl advice? I can help out with that!" "M-master Po s-said that t-taking dating advice f-from either you or M-Monkey would be a seriously bad idea." Oh come on! We're not that bad!(sometimes...)"

Snow came in between them, trying to keep Vincent comfortable. "Come on Vincent, don't listen to them. If you truly want advice, you can ask Crane. (Ask me what now?) If you wanna keep it simple, just be yourself! That's what really matters!" The croc was still slightly bothered. "I know, I know. But...she's a cheetah, I'm a croc. What s-should I do?" Snow rolled her eyes. "Come on! Look at our friends! Almost none of them are the same, and they like each other. I mean, look at Master Po and Master Tigress. They are the most opposite of all, but that didn't stop them." Vincent pondered more, and looked at the smaller birds, they were preening each other, gently and happily. "I g-guess you're right...m-maybe I should be a l-little more open to her...I mean...she and her brother are pretty different, yet t-they love each other as brother and sister..." "Exactly! So you can either ask her out soon...(leans in) or I'll do it for ya..." Vincent suddenly went white, and backed up, flailing his arms up and down. "OKAY! I'll do it! Please don't tell her!"

The group stopped to look at him, and he looked awkward. "Tell who what dude?" Monkey asked. Vincent was not responding right away, the situation on the subject was bad enough. "He doesn't have to answer that if he doesn't want to. Get off his back already!" Snow was growling with ice claws forming, and they decided to back off. "I'm sorry Vincent. Just make sure that Sasha can still see what am awesome guy you truly are. You can trust me, she'll see it soomer or later." "T-thanks Snow." Crane realized that the worst was over, and that he could relax a little more. "You'd think that it be more comlicated than that...yet there is still that sick feeling that something bad is going to occur soon...and we have to try our best to be ready for it. Only thing that can counteract that is not knowing what we are dealing with. And so far it makes no sense..." Crane remembers the three tailed Naruto that they had to restrain, and pondered more. "He was full of rage, anger, and rampaged on everything in those few minutes. So...why did his eyes look so...sad..."

After that, they heard a flapping noise, and saw Mr. Ping seemingly flying towards them, along with Luminous, who was just walking along the road. "Why, hello there, young ones! Fancy seeing you!" "Hi guys! How are you doing? Have you gotten used to the people here?" Luminous smiled. "Turns out, they seem to like the noodles Mr. Ping makes. He's even made himself a second noodle cart." Crane got nervous. "Ho boy...we better keep moving...when he mentions things like this, its best to walk away. Very slowly...besides, we should go find Po, maybe he has an answer on what to do." Snow didn't know what he meant by the first part, but they should go see what Po's up to. "We better get back to the house, there is nothing we can do out here." Scarlet and Jake took for the skies, and flew in the houses direction. Everyone else made their way over there, but were unknowing of the shadow following them...

(In the skies)

Fenghuang focused on keeping herself in the skies, flapping her wings every few minutes or so, thinking about things while on her way. "Seems to me that Jao has something important planned, and he's seems very excited for it. I better see what he's up to. And Sasuke, gotta check on Saauke." She spotted her cave, and dived for it at a steady speed. When she reached the entrance, she slid on the ground, using her talons to slow her down. She then makes her way inside. "Hello? Anyone here? Jao?" She had excellent vision in dark places, and was able to see Sasuke and Jinx, actually looking bored. "Why hello you two. Nice to see that you are still here." Sasuke huffed, and Jinx shrugged."He's...in a bad mood." "Funny. Has he ever been in a good mood?" Sasuke still did not acknowledge her, just closing his eyes to think about something else.

"Wow...you seriously don't want to talk. Alright then, I'll give you your private time, which is kind of pointless, seeing that we're here." He still was silent, not responding. She finally decided to leave him be, since he clearly doesn't want to be bothered. "Fenghuang? Love? You're back so soon?" She turn her head like owls do, and saw that Jao has returned, eying her curiously. "Jao, you've returned too!" She flew right at him, and he managed to catch her in his arms, and they kissed lovingly, and it made Jinx (aww...) and made Sasuke (whatever...). They separate, and he set her down. "Was the operation successful on your end?" "Indeed. Their trust in one another has been damaged, and I saw a little destruction dished out as a bonus. I think we're on a streak, what about you?" Jao smirked. "I found a certain someone on my way back from a special...errand. And he has allies of his own, and we agreed to call a truce." "What?! Jao, you can't go making alliances without me! Do you even know what they want?!" The owl said this out of both rage and concern, but her eyes were now having a dark bluish shade to them because of the anger part. "Relax love. Just trust me, It is alright, because I know who he is, and we have a common enemy. See for yourself."

She waited for a few minutes, listening for anything. Then, she hears a clanking noise, seems to be scratching the ground. She then feels something in the air, and it feels...ominous. When she sees the figure for herself, she could not believe her eyes. It...was a peacock...a pale white peacock that's making his way right towards the cave, with his only good eye. He also looked slightly burned still, because soot was still apparent on his feathers. She was in utter disbelief. "You're...you're...Shen. And...you're still alive?" He looked uncaring of her question. "Well of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be." "I heard that you got crushed by a sharp piece of metal, and then it exploded...you actually survived that?" "Oh yes. Even though...I was in a very deep coma...surprisingly still breathing for an entire year. I didn't believe it either. Yet...here I am."

Fenghuang was speechless. He had a skinny body like that, and he was able to survive a sharp piece of metal in the chest, and an explosion, and still live in a coma, having absolutely no food or water for an entire year with near fatal injuries. It was either a determined soul, someone else was involved, or it was pure luck. "Hm...tough peacock." "Whatever. Let's just go through our introductions in a professional manner, and we can get down to buisness." Jao nodded in agreement. So everyone there got themselves settled in the cave, while the wolf made his way towards Sasuke. "If you ever want to remember everything about yourself, you will NOT ruin this for us." That got his attention, but he didn't open his eyes. "...Fine..." Jao sighed while sweatdropping. "You know...you really know how to make intimidating a whole lot less fun..." "Should I even care about how you do your little meeting?" Jao sighed, and walked away. "You'll have to care. Just trust me, you have to."

While Jao was walking, he made a fist. _I need that panda chief...he knows what I need for this to be completely successful...I make so many truces...yet I trust almost none of them...Fenghuang...my love...you are the only one I truly trust outside Shen's loyalty...he's changed somehow...and my first instinct is to make sure that it helps us instead of hindering us...Jhong and the jinchjuriki...I must find other ways to get their attention..._

Jao nods to himself. _Yes...tomorrow we head for the pandas hiding place...they made the mistake of leaving a trail for me..._

(On the other mountains)

Po was panting quite a lot, making his way up the mountain path. Kakashi was struggling to help him climb up, but he found it a whole lot more difficult than he thought. "I've lifted plenty of heavy things...but they were never THIS heavy..." "Hey! I'll have you know that I've actually LOST a couple of pounds!" Lotus looked at him while smiling. "Really? How many pounds?" "Um...well...ah...eee...uh...5 pounds! I've lost 5 pounds! How about that?!" Shifu shook his head while chuckling silently. "That's more weight than you lose in 2 months. Nice job." Po now just about lost any hope of a decent conversation that doesn't have the topic of his weight. Kakashi patted his back. "Don't worry about it Po. Turns out, if you are underweight and a panda, then THAT'S unhealthy. You don't have to feel bad about it." "Thanks."

They were making there way past the waterfalls, seeing how colorful the waters are. "Hey Kakashi, why'd you lie about Naruto? Is there something else about him that you're not telling us?" Kakashi suddenly felt vulnerable. He knew he was lying? Who else knows that? "How could you know that I was bluffing? I made sure that I kept it under wraps as best as I could." "Hey dude, when it comes to him, I want to make sure that I can actually look after him. If I couldn't, then I couldn't call myself a bro to him, now could I?" He sounded serious. Kakashi could see it in his eyes, they were just like Naruto's, the color does not matter. They have many differences, and even more similarities. "He was-"

"Hey! Slowpokes! We're almost there!" Juan was heard yelling. The two guys flinched and then sped after them. The group were pushing their way through a multitude of shrubs and bushes, and they looked like they were...glowing a little, it was faint, but enough so that you could still see it. "Everything is...glowing...and they feel so...alive...more than it should. Is there a chance that this place is a lot more special than it looks?" Po was saying, like he was in some deep trance. Lotus noticed, because she knew that he would. "Well...looks like we're here." She said softly. Juan nodded. "Yessir, look up and see for yourself."

Po, Shifu, and Kakashi managed to look up at what they are talking about, and their eyes were dots. Up above them...were two giant stautes high above the ground, connected right into the giant waterfall...you could get to them with the stairs on each side of them. And the statues...were black on one side, and white on the other, facing each other like they're gods or something. Po felt that he's...somehow connected to the statues, he feels some sort of flow from him, and he also feels somehow...powerful because of it. "Woah...what is this place?" Juan turns to him, smiling. "Today's your lucky day Po, you're gonna learn how to use a dragons power, right here in this area." Shifu was a little skeptical. "How do you plan on doing that?" Lotus chuckled. "Well...you're just gonna have to trust us, now won't cha?"

_Lets see...I put women that like to tease me in charge of Po's new training...what have I done?!_

(Spirit Realm)

Viper was steadily moving through the glowing forest, making sure that Jhong and Naruto were secure on her back. Jhong was feeling like they were being watched. "Naruto...do you remember how you're friends were? Do you think you could try to find out where they could be around here?" Naruto wanted to confide in Kurama, but for some strange reason, ever sense they came here he could not feel his presence, OR use his energy, and that's made him a slightly weaker target. "I don't have a clue dude, I just know that I need to find them before anyone or anything else does." Jhong sighed. "That doesn't leave us a lot to go on, but at least its something." "Sorry man." "I know. But still...are we being watched?" Naruto didn't even think of that. Sure, there are plenty of nice spirtual creatures here, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any bad ones here.

Viper took this into account, and kept her guard. "Not to worry boys, I'll be here to back you up if we ever get into a scuffle. I mean, LOOK at me! Not many small creatures will try to mess with a big one like me. Right?" Jhong was not very sure. "I dunno Master Viper, if a target is too big for one to handle, then they will have no choice but to gather up in numbers and work together to bring the target down." Viper shivered, and they felt it too. "Well...better make sure that doesn't happen then, ok?" See, this is why you can compare her and Naruto, they do their best to look for the positives in any situation, and work with it. "Yeah, I guess we can make it all work, can we?"

There was a set amount of silence for just a few moments. Growling was heard from behind them, and they all turned around to see behind them. "What...was that? Is there somebody there?" The wolf shook his head softly. "I don't think so...whoever is there is not our friend..." Out of the shadows, a couple of misshaped creatures were coming at them on all fours, slowly approaching them, snarling at them. Viper was slithering backwards, startled. "What...the heck...are those?" "Mom...I don't know about you, but I don't wanna stick around to find out." Viper was ready to fight, but she had to trust Naruto's judgement. And she knew he was serious because he loved to fight, and running away was a last resort thing. The next thing that happened gave her a reason why, the creatires suddenly grew bigger, rivaling Vipers new size. "Yep. We better go."

Viper was off, and the creatures were in pursuit, chasing all three of them down. Jhong and Naruto made sure to hold on as tight as they could onto her neck, as she slithered swiftly past more shrubs. She was doing her best to keep them far away from them to protect the boys as best as he could. But, one managed to swipe at her, and it knocked her into a boulder nearby. The boys were forcefully thrown off, and another one grabbed a hold of Jhong, and swiftly carried him away, leaving the other two with Naruto and Viper. "Jhong! Give him back!" Naruto jumped after him, but one jumped in front of him and clawed at him, knocking him back into the boulder. "No! Get outta my way!" He shouts, and makes a Shadow Clone while doing so. He was readying a Rasengan, but, just like that, the creatures left them there, swiftly following after their appears to be leader.

Naruto dispelled his clone, and panted quietly, hands on his knees. "Why...They were following us to get to him the entire time! Mom! You gotta get up! We need to go after them!" Viper was slowly getting up, blinking her eyes. "Oh no...this is bad...we'll have to follow them quickly." She looked up, and saw that it was getting dark. It wasn't very safe in the dark if they are in the Spirit Realm. The folks here get even nastier than usual, even the nice ones get mean. "But...we can't. Its getting too dark too fast. We're gonna have to find a place to hide so that we can sleep." "But Mom-" Viper looked Naruto in the eyes, and he fell silent. "Look honey, I'm worried sick too, but we're not going to be able to save your comrades or Jhong if we get killed out here. We HAVE to find shelter." She looked up in the skies, and saw a huge tree a few feet away from where they were at. "Ha! I can climb that tree in no time flat!" Naruto shouted with confidence.

Viper shook her head. "Oh boy...Maybe YOU can sweetie, but I'm not that fast not that I've grown a few feet. So how am I going to get up there without being carried off by some spiritual hawk or something? You know I don,t like being in the talons of huge birds. Crane is an exception, yet I still feel nervous." Naruto sighed. "That's true...so I guess we'll have to settle for something a little lower..." He tried looking around for a bit more, and spotted a fresh glowing tree that provides plenty of shelter and shade to keep them hidden. "There, we'll try that one. Let's go mom!" They hurried over there, and saw that the tree had...mangos? It was growing mangos... "I'm pretty sure those aren't around China, and if they are then I haven't seen one yet." Viper saw that it was also a pretty looking tree too, not too colorful, but a beautiful shade of red. Her stomach started to growl, she had a thought in her head, and was slightly panicking. "Naruto..." He turned to her, confused. "What is it mom?"

She shook her head a few times, and cleared her throat to speak. "Um...I want...to ask you something...and you have to promise that you won't panic..." "What is it?" Viper cleared her throat again, this wasn't going to be easy. "I...uh...I'm going to hide you...somewhere...somewhere that something dangerous cannot get to you..." "W-what is it?" Viper didn't say it, she just raised her tail, and used it to rub her serpent body. He them gasped loudly. "M-mom...I-I can't...I don-t want to...I..." Viper slithered up to him, trying to calm him. "Naruto...I know what you're feeling...and you have every right to feel that...but just answer me this...you do trust me right?" "Of course I do! Its just...I mean...I...I just...I..." She sighed, and gave him some space to breathe. "Naruto...yesterday...Kakashi told me something...he said that before your memory loss, you distrusted snakes with every fiber of your being because of how much a snake master has damaged your life further. And he finds it ironic that you now has one as a mother, me. Don't you agree?" Naruto still wasn't very sure.

"Okay, let's try something else. Do you remember that evil cobra that came to the Valley once? The one that tried to turn me against you all?" Naruto looked at her face carefully. "Yes?" "Remember when you still had your 12 year old body, when all the village folks lost all faith in me as their protector? Why I found that day important...is that you were the very first one who stood up for me. No matter what I did, even when it was all an act, you knew deep down that I am still a very compassionate person. You were by my side no questions asked, and I loved you for it. You were still calling me "mom" even afterwards. I've was so proud of you on that day." She leaned into his face, and smiled. "Between the time when you were in your world, and the time you spent in our world...Kakashi said that you've grown into an even better person than before. Age didn't matter at all. And he thanks all of us for it, especially me and Po." Naruto wasn't expecting this. He's become a better person than last time? And he couldn't remember it?

Viper didn't move from her spot. "You know...if you don't want to do this, I completely understand. Let's just get up this tree." She began to move towards the tree, ready to climb. "Wait." She turned back to him. "Okay. I'll...I'll do it..." Naruto apparently understands why she's doing this. He knows a few fruits are not going to properly sustain Viper with her new temporary size, also because she doesn't have the stamina that he has. And this realm depletes stamina quickly for those who have not trained inside it."Are you sure sweetie? I just said that you don't have to." "I know. I just feel as if we would reach an issue like this eventually...so we should push it away now...right?" She had to make sure he really wanted to do this. "You're sure?" "Getting more and more exhausted...if we both pass out in the open we're toast. So...i'm sure." She waited for a few moments to for him to change his mind, and then nodded. "Okay." She made her way towards him, and coiled around him gently, binding his arms and legs. She felt him panic, so she used her tail to remove his headband, and kissed his forehead protectively. "Naruto...just remember...I'm doing this to keep you safe, because you exhausted yourself quickly without the Nine-Tails chi, and you'r too tired to fight again. Not because it may make me less hungry. I love you too much for that." Naruto hesitated, but nodded. "Okay, I'm going to do it, should be easy with my new size. Close your eyes of you need to, I only want you to be comfortable. So...just relax..."

She was hesitant too, but knew this was for his own good. She opened her mouth as wide as she was allowed to, and was descending on the blonde. He was looking up into her mouth, and decided to close his eyes. She reached his head, and started to descend further, gulping every few seconds. He felt it, and shivered. She swallowed down on him, and used her coils to push him upward. He wondered why she was going so slow, she really wanted him to trust her with this. Once she was at his waist, she let him loose, and raised her head high, hoping gravity would help. Naruto felt himself falling faster into her throat, and was practically sliding down into it. The last of him disappeared in her mouth, and she found it safe to swallow. So she swallowed once, and felt him slide down her body faster. She looked at her body, she could see him as a lump going down it. She saw it stop somewhere in the middle of her, and when she burped, she realized that he made it to her stomach. "Are you okay?"

He felt himself slide into her stomach, and saw that he was able to sit up straight. He felt the walls around him pulse every few seconds, they were adjusting to him being in there. He remembers the very first time this happened, in the Forest of Death,but that was killing intent. He knows Viper has her reasons."I...guess so. Mom...am I gonna be-" "Don't you finish that sentence Naruto. You're gonna be fine, you'll just be in there for a few hours. I told you I was gonna take care of you, and that's what I'm going to do." She slithered towards the tree carefully, because she had precious cargo. She spiraled up the tree, and found a branch that was not too low, not too high. "Mom?" She wrapped herself around the branch, and left the bulge on top, and began to rub it with her tail. "Shhh...don't worry about it...just relax..."

Naruto felt the rubbing from outside, and found out she was trying to soothe him. She knew he's been through this before, she wanted to show him that she was different than the other snakes who actually tried to kill him. "O-okay...I'm...calm now...still...you said only a few hours right?" She smiled, still rubbing. "You know what, if you don't feel comfy, I'll let you out right now, and we can rest together." "No, its fine. I'm just...having trouble falling asleep." She knew how to deal with that, she pushed her body to the side slightly, and her lump was now hanging from the branch in a U-shape. "Wha?!" "Shhh...its alright...I just turned myself into a living hammock. Its usually what snakes do when they're done eating. Now...do you think you can sleep a little easier now?"

He felt himself swaying side-to-side, the warmth of her body, and her heartbeat was helping him relax further, it was pulling him to sleep. "Yeah...I guess...I guess I can...sleep...now..." Naruto closes his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. Viper felt him drift off, and smiled. "There you go..." "Guess his fear of snakes has officially been outdated." She was startled by the voice, and looked to her left. It was Fugasaku. "Don't let him know I'm here, just know that he has very important training to do. But for now, just relax you two, I'll be down there." The toad jumped down to the base of the tree, and left them alone. Viper would have shrugged if she had shoulders. She smiled anyway reached her head down to her lump, and kissed it, protectively. "See? I told you you can trust me..just rest up for later...just rest sweetie...you're gonna be fine..."

(With Jhong)

"I'm being carried away by freaky beasts, this cannot be one of the worst days I've ever had..." The creatures were apparently taking him somewhere, and he didn't want that, because he saw piles gathering on their path. When they were about to cross some sort of field, the creature was suddenly thrown back, full force, by something powerful. I drop Jhong, and he was able to land on the ground on all fours, panting. "What...was that?" He looked up, there was a figure giving him a hand, helping up. This figure...had pink hair. Wait a minute... "Do...you know anyone by the name of Sakura?"

"Sure. I'm Sakura, why do you ask?" Jhong thought this("Well...looks like I found one of them..."

"Are you here to come get us?" Jhong was confused, but then remembered."Oh yeah! There are two of you here?"

"That's right." Looking up, you see Shikamaru, the other survivor, drop in on the wolf. "We appreciate the effort, but we can handle ourselves quite well in here."

"Shikamaru,our chakra depletes twice as fast inside the spirit realm! We're both exhausted!" Sakira says, slouching over a little.

Jhong rubbed his ears for a second, then nodded. "This place has a night and day as well, so we should probably get to safety. I can lead you back to Naruto later." The pair froze at his words.

"Naruto...you mean he's still alive?!" They both exclaimed. Jhong decided to walk with them to a safe place as spiritual night comes forth. Jhong hears all about Narutos adventures in the other world, and they find it surprising that his memory loss has not deteriorated his nature for helping people in need. And Po played a big part in making him stronger than before. But...his home...how can they ever tell the blonde about whats left of the village? Nothing but rubble...

(At night in the physical world)

_Pain to the world..._

_Po was having some sort of nightmare, dreaming of fighting something powerful. "You really do not understand why we do this...you are blind to the truth..."_

_"I see things very clearly! Why do you think that suffering is the only answer?! You can't do that! Everyone can learn how to achieve peace! Together!" _

_"Enough babble...bring us Naruto..."_

_"No way man. I'm not giving him up to the like of you! You're only one dude! Just try to take him from us, like a real warrior does!" _

_"Then...you will die along with the others...you nor Naruto have no chance..."_

_"We'll see about that, PAIN!"_

Someone woke up with a jolt, and was breathing heavily. That was ome serious dream. But...it had nothing but voices...how can they tell who's really in trouble? Well...they can find out more in the morning...when everyone is awake.

The dream did not belong to Po surprisingly. No, Crystal was sure of it. The distress in the emotions...definitely belonged to Tigress...

* * *

**_The training chapter will be next. And the Akatsuki finally arrive during it. Wonder what happens next? Give me some ideas, I will appreciate it kindly._**


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